


Time Flies By When You're in a Madhouse

by VelvetRedBullet



Series: No Place For a Hero [1]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arkham, Asylum, Drama, Fan Fanfiction, Fear, Gen, Madness, Memory, Survival, The Dark Knight - Freeform, Titan, game, insane, xbox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-25 13:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 50,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6197311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VelvetRedBullet/pseuds/VelvetRedBullet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emily is obsession with the game Arkham Asylum and tries to write her own fanfiction but she has no luck. After a nightmare she wakes up inside the game. Now she must take on her characters role and survive the game. Will she make it to the end?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Nightmare of Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> I think it might be a good idea to take down No Place for a Hero and Time Flies By When You're in a Madhouse and start over. I wrote TFBWYIAM back in 2012 and there is so much I want to change and fix and I think I can make it a lot better.
> 
> It is a 'sucked into game' fic and I'm not happy with that anymore. I'd rather go back and have it just a girl from that universe growing up in an asylum. Would you guys be ok with that? Or would you rather I just leave it and continue with No Place for a Hero? Hell I started No Place for a Hero in 2014 and there are only eight chapters to it so far...
> 
> I could also just update the chapters with the new ideas but I dunno, I think that might confuse people? I want to know what you think. I'm not giving up on this story but I've been finding it difficult to write and I think it's because its old and it really needs a re-vamp.
> 
> Thanks guys,
> 
> Velvet

Footsteps, in a panic she silently but quickly dimmed down her bedroom light and plugged earphones into her TV and stood very still until she heard the footsteps pass her room and into the one at the end of the hall, standing for a couple of extra seconds her body sank onto the floor, she crossed her legs then reached for her Xbox controller, placed in the earphones and began her game again, being this close to the television made her eyes sore but she tried to focus them, she wasn't giving up this part of the game. The character in the game threw something at a weird plant which fell onto a grate float and separated into pieces; the character gathered some spores for this plant then headed off back in the direction he had just walked. Curly had thought she was becoming a pro at the game but this part always managed to piss her off. The monster sprung out of the water and began to charge at the character, smugly smiling Curly threw something at the monster but was surprised when the character started to whizz towards the monster then get devoured by it. The gamer bit her bottom lip trying not to shout and throw her controller on the ground as last time she did that her foot suffered badly for a few hours. This always happened, whenever she had to choose the line launcher to get to the other side as the monster had destroyed some crates, she sometimes forgot to change it back to batarang, and usually she'd get it changed just in the nick of time but not always.

"Tick tock, feed the croc!"

Emily rubbed her eyes and drank some of her bottled water before picking the controller up and trying it again, she failed a further three times but on the forth she managed to get past.

"Yeah Croc, don't mess with me scale boy," she whispered with triumph. Her eyes were beginning to fail her now; Curly could no longer fight against sleep. Saving and switching off the Xbox, she turned off the light and snuggled into bed and tried to sleep.

" _Have you ever felt so tired that when you do go to bed you just can't sleep, it's like your body is trolling you or something"_ she thought, " _Facebook status for tomorrow_."

Emily Rodgers came from a very eccentric family and always thought she was the normal one of the bunch but she discovered that the world of gaming brought out her strangeness. She had four favourite games: Alice Madness Returns, the Gears of War trilogy, Greenday Rockband and Batman Arkham Asylum and Batman was the one she was obsessing about for weeks. A while back she had been looking for new games to try out and it was highly recommended so she saved up enough money and ordered the game and no sooner it arrived and she had played it nonstop. She had completed the game in easy and in normal and now she was doing it in hard difficultly, before you even confirm the choice to play it on the harder level it warns you that all the bad guys are much stronger and other stuff but Emily paid no attention to it, she already thought that she was brilliant at it until she came to the first TITAN monster and it destroyed her...it but her in a bad mood for hours. But she got the hang of it again and slowly she started to work through all the areas, failing here and there occasionally but she was nearing the end and then after the story line all she would have to do was fine all the Riddler problems.

It wasn't just the game that she was addicted to. Batman had become her obsession and her friends were sure that it would come and go quickly but at night Emily would go on her phone she would go on and hunt for juicy new batman stories, all the ones to do with the game and animated series and also the movies. She had a few favourites but made sure not to tell anyone about them as some were, raunchy...very raunchy. Oh teenagers eh. But tonight she wasn't in the mood for reading, tonight she was thinking. After reading so many fan stories she wanted to write one to, during some classes at school she would scribble notes on random bits of paper trying to create ideas. She had her character and most of her traits but all the ideas she could come up with sucked or were too familiar to other peoples stories, she had thought playing the game tonight would help her mind burst with creativeness but the story canvas was still blank.

Her phone played a little tune which disturbed her comfortable laying position, her hand reached towards her phone, a text message from her brother, he was sleeping on the sofa for a few days as his room was getting done up.

****U up playin Bman?**** He had sent her.

****I was, trying to get some sleep,**** she replied.

Moments later, ****How is your story comin along?****

She began tapping in words, ****Not good don't know how to start it.****

****Aww your good at writing you'll get inspiration soon,**** was his reply.

****Thanks Thane I'll have something typed up soon,**** she sent back.

She smiled when she got the next reply, ****Can't wait to read it sis!****

Halfway through texting her brother a reply her eyes flickered a few times, they were wide open then slowly they shut. For a few minutes she dreamt of nothing though for the past couple of nights she had been dreaming about lying on a building roof with rain falling down on her. She didn't understand it, she had looked through dream books to try and discover the meaning of it but she got no answer. Like always it started with dark clouds but something was odd this time, instead of rain crashing down black silhouettes of faces looked down at her. "What the hell?" she muttered to herself. Usually in the dream she ended up jumping from rooftop to rooftop but instead the scene dramatically changed.

She no longer wore clothes instead it was a gown you would wear if going for surgery at hospital, she wasn't lying on the hard rooftop anymore instead her back was lying on a bed but her wrists and ankles were in cuffs and she was so light headed. "What's going on?" her voice rasped, everything felt so strange, dreams aren't meant to make you feel like this. Groaning she closed her eyes then opened them again when a bright light suddenly flashed, she shook her head and furiously blinked the water leaking from her eyes and soon they focused. The silhouettes were still there.

"I don't think our patient looks really well, looks like we might have to take her to surgery." It was a females voice, they type of voice that a normal person would find rather annoying.

"I hear that she's crazy, crazier than me! Ha ha ha! Somebody kill her." The voice this time was unique but not in a good way. It sent chills down her spine and needles in her neck, the voice was enough to strike fear into anyone's heart.

The silhouettes shimmered away but another took its place above her, "Little girl all trap inside a terror filled mind, let me guess, spiders? No...being locked in an enclosed place? Not that either...ah, I see...you suffer from hematophobia," the voice cackles and Curly shivers once more, "Excellent."

The dark shape transforms into a new shadow, "My most easiest mark yet," the voice was male and very shaky, "I know exactly where I shall put you little piggy."

Yet again the silhouette changes, "Insignificant fool, not you or anyone else is as intelligent as me, I am better than you!" A male's voice, a hint of intellect in his voice but so childish too.

The next silhouette was bigger than the rest and the voice from it was rasping but petrifying, "I will devour you, rip you from limb to limb, you're my little midnight snack!" The shadow lifted up its arm ready to strike but changed before it could; the shadow was only slightly smaller this time and had a distinctive accent.

"After I break the bruja, I shall break you!"

There was another shadow, the darkness shriveled down to a slender form and the voice now reminded Curly of a sexy mother, "The vines will suffocate you and your body will rot far beneath the earth."

All the voices began to talk over one and another and she heard different things all the time, most of it evil and sickening; feasting on her bones, skinning her like a bear rug, dropping her in a vat of acid and dropping her down an elevator like a sack of puppies...Curly would of woken up by now but everything was just so clear that she had forgotten how to scream and get away from the nightmare. This was insane. Insane. I-S-A-N-E. She was seeing more things now and feeling new sensations, things were rippling underneath her skin, her blood froze and her eyes boiled, her strength was trying to push everything away and eventually the pain ceased but it would leave behind a large mark. Before the nightmare ended the second silhouette returned but was much closer to Curly's face.

"Be seeing you soon kiddo, let's hope you exceed expectations," chuckling an evil giggle, "but with all my tricks, I bet you won't even last the night, goodnight little Filly." That laugh...death to anyone's ears.

As soon as everything disappeared her eyes shot open and her body jolted into a sitting position which caused a slight dizziness. Taking deep steady breaths, she rubbed her eyes and went over the nightmare. It was so real...she had had dreams before where she sometimes felt a slight coldness but the nightmare was so detailed...man did her head hurt. Emily reached for her lamp but was surprised when her hand didn't make contact with it, _"The cat must of came into my room and knocked it over",_ she thought rolling out of bed and making her way to switch on the bigger light. The floor was cold as she took little steps, _"Hang on, I have a carpet",_ her hand quickly found the light switch and she could finally study her room. Emily wasn't the screaming type but one run up her throat and stormed the room she was in, she sunk to the floor when all she saw was a bed, cabinet, a couple of books and a radio. Within moments people rushed into the room and took hold of Emily, they tried to calm her but had no such luck, they carried her furiously shaking body onto a bed and strapped her down and waited for her to calm. It took a while.

Emily cried, screamed, shouted, most of the things that came out her mouth nobody could understand even Emily had no clue but as an injection was given to her, her mind started to go all floaty and carefree, her heart beat rate decreased and she felt better. The wonders of drugs. A young woman with a caring look approached Emily's side and stroked her face.

"Filly? It's Doctor Cassidy, everything's fine, just relax and go back to sleep."

Emily looked at this woman, she was sure she knew that name, but Filly? There were plenty more questions but she fell back asleep quicker than turning off a light switch. She was taken to a new room and left inside with a guard hanging outside the door, in Doctor Cassidy's notes there was no mention of the patient ever having fits or bad nightmares, it was strange but questions and answers would have to wait until the girl was feeling better and back to her usual self. The Doctors had gathered together quickly and had a small discussion about the surprising out burst from the patient.

"I, I just never expected something like this would happen to her" said Doctor Cassidy who was biting at her fingernails.

"After all the years being here I am not really surprised, the evil in the walls are now rubbing off on her, it's only a matter of time until she becomes like the rest of them" said a female doctor with a thick Russian accent.

"No, Filly won't become like the others," muttered Doctor Cassidy with a hint of disbelief in her voice, "There's not one bad bone in her body."

"You've grown too attached to her Sarah." Said another doctor.

"We all have Doctor Stevens, but however, I half agree with Gretchen, she's going through some changes and we can't stop that now, we just have to hope she chooses the right side." Doctor Young gave her friend are comforting rub on her shoulder and took her to get a cup of coffee, the other doctors returned to their work.

From the depths of the building all the other patients heard the scream, it was one that they never heard before but it was a particular delight to a certain scrawny looking man. He had his ear pressed to the walls hoping to hear more but bad luck for him that all was now silent, it had been a while since he heard the blissful screams of a woman, not that he didn't enjoy the terror filled screams of men it satisfied him but with the females it just made him feel more powerful and in control. The way he liked it. He'd have to find this female soon as she'd be the perfect new test subject, after his last stunt was stopped by a certain dark hero he had been up many long nights calculating formula's in his head and so far everything was perfect, apart from the breaking out bit, though a little birdie came to him the other day and told him about the asylums future...he was looking forward to it.

A few good hours later Emily's eyes flickered open and she expected to be woken by her alarm clock but the annoying beeping sound didn't ring through her ears. The tiredness took a few more moments to be rid of but once her eyes were in focus and the cloud disappeared from her mind she jolted forward in shock, or she would of if she wasn't strapped down to the bed. The minutes slowly ticked by giving her time to relax and to think, she found it so much better talking out loud about it.

"This has to be a...very real dream," she knew it sounded totally nuts, "I just need to go back to sleep and I'll be back home, I bet I'm sleep walking around the house or something," then she realized the bigger picture, "Oh my God I'm in Arkham Asylum...I'm in a madhouse! Oh jeez, that doctor called me Filly!"

Filly also known as Emily Rogers, Patient AC2111, pale skinned and freckled face, long brown hazel hair and spirited grey eyes, long legs but from what she can remember from her nightmare they had all called her little. Emily tried to move into a sitting position but found it difficult; she wanted to see her reflection, she wanted to see if her character was right, she felt that most of the female characters in Batman were all hair and boobs and most of them had curvy slim figures and she thought it would be good to be different. Filly was to have wild hair, an average figure, long legs and arms, strong boned and very athletic. Lying down in the bed she most certainly didn't feel any different.

The door opened and Doctor Cassidy entered, she smiled at Emily then glanced down at her clipboard and scribbled something on the piece of paper it was holding in place, "Good morning Filly, how are you feeling?" she asked.

Emily looked at the doctor, she noticed how his hands shook a little and how parts of her hair looked oddly out of place and her fingernails had all been chewed on, she must have had her trouble with Victor, "I'm alright...I had a nightmare."

"You can discuss it later with your new doctor, I'm only here to undo your restrains." She approached Curly and freed her hands and ankles.

"How are you Doctor Cass-"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me Sarah?" she smiled and Emily awkwardly returned one, "And I'm fine thank you, glad to be back.

Emily knew that that was one big fat lie and Doctor Cassidy knew it too, "Well, I'm glad you're back too."

After getting cleaned up and into clothes, it wasn't the arkham orange jumpsuit but a pair of skinny dark orange skinny jeans and a white shirt she followed Doctor Cassidy to the staff cafeteria were she was severed breakfast. She didn't understand that either, shouldn't she have been in the patient food court? She didn't ask questions and so kept silent and watched the other doctors before they began their work. There wasn't much to do, all she did after breakfast was to return to her room and read a book. It wasn't a cell. Emily had to find out why she was getting such good treatment at the asylum. When the clock neared to twelve a guard came and took her to arkham mansion then to a Doctor Laird's office, she was greeted with a middle aged man, short hair fading to grey; he shook my hand and pulled out a seat for. He moved around his desk and sat on his chair then clicked the record button on a cassette player.

"Patient interview number one; the patients name is Emily Pecan also known as Filly, most guards and other patients call her by that name. Hello Emily my name is Doctor Laird, do you mind me calling you by that name?"

Emily's mind was a whirlwind of madness. Was she supposed to pretend to be Filly? For a moment the thought sounded strange but then another one entered her mind, this was what all the gamers in the world wanted, to spend a short time in their favourite games, so what if this was a dream Emily was going to make the most of it and improvise. Instead of slouching on the chair she sat with her back straight and crossed her legs, put on her best innocent smile and flicked a strand of her long hair behind her ear.

"Not at all Doctor" even her voice changed slightly to a higher tone.

"Good I think it's more professional."

"Nothing about me is really professional anymore, I've been here almost my whole life, this place is my home and everyone in here is my family" she laughed inside her head at all the things she was coming up with.

"Going through all the files it says that you've lived here since the age of four, you were left outside arkham's door with a note in your blanket which said that your parents were not fit you look after you as you needed 'help'. For the next few years you were a bit troublesome like most children and teenagers but apart from that you haven't caused any problems for the doctors or the guards, in other words you are fit and sane. But then why are you here?"

_So that's probably why I'm treated so well here I'm practically a daughter of Arkham,_ she thought.

"I'm here because the people of Gotham are scared of me. And I don't blame them. I'm different and usually different in Gotham is bad."

"Go on" the doctor pressed.

She crossed her arms and leaned forward thinking for a moment, "Well look at most of the people in here, Joker, Croc, Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy, they are all different and they are very dangerous so if you take in to account what Gotham has been through, it's better that you keep the freaks away from the city and let Batman try to clean it out."

"What are your thoughts on the Batman?" he asked suddenly.

She raised an eyebrow, "I think he's doing a good job, he defeats the bad guys so what's not to like. I believe what he is doing is right but I don't understand why he keeps doing it. How many times must he beat Joker to a pulp and all the other villains? I think I've lost count. He brings them back or takes them to Blackgate but all they do is break out again and again, it's a never ending fighting cycle, I'm surprised that Bman hasn't hung up his cape yet," she noticed him scribble down some words and she was sure that he wrote down the word 'Harley', she cursed mentally at herself for using Harley's nickname for Batman, "You should really just lock them away behind so many doors and throw the keys in the ocean or something...please don't take this the wrong way but...most of the doctors here think they can cure all of these patients, Joker, Twoface, Mad Hatter the lot of them...they cannot be cured and even if they could be do you really think that want to be cured? It's a waste of time."

The Doctor nodded his head and noted a few more things down, "What's your relationship like with the less violent patients and the violent ones?"

It felt like each question was random and didn't exactly have any link, "Good, all the less violent patients are all friendly enough but of course there are always ones that like to cause trouble, I try to keep out of their way. As for the violent ones, not so good, they like to make their horrid comments, mostly about sexual things; none of them are intelligent enough to come up with anything that would actually insult me."

"What are your hobbies?" he fired out the question.

"I like painting but I enjoy sports mostly, running track is my favourite I can run out everybody." She ended the sentence with a smile.

He was silent for a moment but then rubbed his nose and continued his questions, "Tell me about your condition?"

"I'm a horse."

The doctor couldn't help but chuckle, "There's more to it than that I'm sure."

"Well my parents certainly weren't horses. I remember getting my blood taken a lot and how people ran tests on me to try and figure out what was wrong but nobody has given me a clear explanation yet and I don't think I'll ever get one. I don't really care anymore; this 'condition' hasn't driven me crazy or changed me in anyway so I'm not dangerous. My abilities aren't anything special, I can run very fast, jump long distances and I have strong bones. My hair grows long...that's really all about it right now, I don't know if I have any more, only time will tell really."

The Doctor noted and again quickly wrote down things, his handwriting was appalling, he leaned over the desk and shook his patients hand and she left the office, the guard waiting for her. She was so happy with herself, _I went in there as Emily and came out as Filly_ , she grinned.

She was so surprised at what she came up with, how she couldn't come up with this stuff before confused her. It was all exciting to her that for a moment she had forgotten what was going to happen in the asylum, when would Hell be unleashed? She didn't know but she did know that Victor had tried to kill Doctor Cassidy meaning that the Joker's party was just right round the corner. Trapped in her daydreams her arm banged into someone else's shoulder; her head looked up and she smiled sweetly and apologized before walking away not knowing that she had just made brief contact the Master of Fear.


	2. Mad Men

It was easy to get lost in Arkham; Filly had been walking in circles for a while. The asylum was a lot bigger than the game made out, there were many more rooms and buildings (not to mention all the secret rooms still to be found), she made note to ask someone if there were any maps. She had ended up being right outside the penitentiary when a guard approached her and sent her in the right direction. Even though she only stood outside the penitentiary for a short time she thought about the people inside it and what was still to happen.

What went on in their brains? She imagined that each of them had different thoughts and emotions going through them at major speeds but they all looked and acted the same. The wild colours in their eyes were swirling madly, they all reminded her of zombies when she played the game, they ran to the bars screaming and gnashing and it was terrifying even the music as the doors opened was creepy and disturbing. Where these people Cranes rats? Were all these people sane once? Maybe one of them was a teacher driven mad by little yobs who made their life a misery. Maybe one of them was the high school jock and fame got too much for him and drove him mad? Or maybe one of them was a plumber who returned home to find their wife in bed with another man, he was so shocked and angry he savagely killed them and the whole thing drove his mind into insanity. Though it's not just events like these that can drive someone off the rails, it could something so simple like finding a coffee stain on a table and no matter how hard you try to clean it you can't get of it. Or to find that their child hasn't done the dishes yet even though they were told to do them fifteen times. Or maybe they were baking a cake and realized they had forgotten to get a key ingredient. All it takes is one little thing. One thing.

After her interview with the doctor she was taken back to her room where she waited till lunch, she didn't like her room it was too dull and badly needed colour, she'd have to ask about designing the room too, if Riddler could have filers in his cell and have painted green question marks on the walls then Filly could get some notebooks and red paint.

For lunch she was taken back to the staff cafeteria and was given a turkey, lettuce and cucumber sandwich which wasn't half bad and orange juice; being there gave her time to think. She needed a good look to make her stand out. The Joker had his purple suit, Penguin had his top hat, dark suit and endless umbrella collection and Catwoman had her whip and skin tight black latex outfit, what could she pull off. Filly had always imagined herself in a suit, even though she thought the outfits for the female villains were hot, but it just wasn't her thing, she felt like she was more casual but stylish. Before she was escorted to the cafeteria she was taken to the shower room to get cleaned up, while drying herself off she noticed a couple of card board boxes hidden away. She dragged them out and opened the lids and inside were clothes. Well she needed new threads.

Filly had but on worn grey converses, short black skinny jeans with chains hanging from it, she put on a red t-shirt with short sleeves and on top of that a black leather jacket. She looked at herself in the mirror and made sure there was no one around and struck a few poses.

"Perfecto" she smiled.

Getting changed back out of her outfit she neatly folded them back up and hid them away, put on her plain clothes and left the showers.

It felt good to feel fresh and clean, the 'nightmare' she had made her feel sticky and un-famine; she was waiting for the chance to ask about getting a book or something but she was approached by a bald doctor and was asked to take part in a group therapy session to see how these certain patients acted around one and other.

She couldn't refuse. She was taken to a room, in its four corners stood guards eyeing everyone in the room. In the centre of the room sitting quietly were six patients sitting on plastic chairs, two females and four males, each of them had their own certain quirks. The two girls had their arms linked together with hair covering most of their faces but Filly could feel their eyes watching every slight move she made. Two of the male patients sat perfectly still but on a couple of occasions their mouths or head would twitch violently and small sounds would escape their lips. The third patient had his hands cuffed and he kept his head down and the final male patient had his elbows propped on his legs, he was rubbing his fingertips together in a steady circular movement, his shiny, greasy black hair covered his eyes but as Filly took her seat his eyes locked on to hers, she had never felt this uncomfortable before in her life. Three chairs remained empty and she wasn't entirely sure who to sit next to but she didn't want to hover for too long so she quickly sat down next to the greasy haired patient and kept her eyes on the ground.

A few moments later a new male patient walked into the room and he looked terrifying. His mouth was opened and he took many heavy breaths, his shoulders were hunched and his arms dangled about, his eyes with a dark brown and he had hardly any hair. She wondered what he was in for. As soon as she thought that his head whipped to her and he gave her the most disgusting smile but he was then pushed down on to a seat and told to stay quiet, only minutes later after this madman's entrance the one and only Doctor Young came in a took her seat.

"Good afternoon everyone, how are you all this late afternoon?" she asked, there were a few mummers but nothing else was said.

"As you all know that these sessions will be cut short for the time being and I'm sure some of you shall know why, however we shall continue as normal."

There was something strange about the word 'normal' being spoken in an asylum.

"As everyone can see we have two new patients joining us today, Filly most of you should all know," she nodded at me then stared at the animalistic man, "Freddie, would you like to introduce yourself?"

The one known as 'Freddie' looked to his left then to his right, he stood up and all the guards shifted slightly.

"Hello, my name is Freddie Marshall and eh, I like, eating, human flesh…especially girls," his eyes flickered to the two girls who's arms were linked and they shuffled closer together and then his eyes scanned the rest of the patients.

Freddie looked directly at Filly and gave her a toothy grin, he looked her up and down and it made her feel dirty and disgusting, "Yes…you would be one of the tasty ones," Filly's skin crawled as his words shivered down her spine, "You would be nice with a peppercorn sauce." Why did the doctor let him continue, couldn't she see how uncomfortable he was making her?

He continued, "Not all girlies are nice tasting…most of them do so many things to their bodies that they lose…flavour, I can already smell you, you haven't lost your scent, it's…mouth-watering."

The madness in his eyes, the saliva drooling from the corners of his mouth, he was a ticking time bomb down to the last few seconds.

"Seven, six…" he rasped.

"Freddie, that's enough." Said Doctor Young calmly, "We don't want a repeat of a few nights ago do we now?"

Freddie ignored her, "Five, four" he giggled.

"Freddie you have been warned, don't let me do it again" she said a lot sterner.

A mad man never listens. "Three, two-" he was interrupted by the female doctor who had banged her clipboard hard on the floor. He turned his attention towards her his eyebrow cocked in a confused expression like the sudden noise had made him forget everything.

"Thank you Freddie, you may sit down," the cannibal sat down awkwardly on the chair and didn't utter a word, "Now, Mr Kaine, how are you feeling today?" the guy with the greasy black hair leaned backwards in his chair and rubbed his chin. He may have looked intimidating before but in a more relaxed position he seemed almost…handsome.

"Lonely Miss Young, I miss my companion who shared my cell."

"Maybe you should of thought about that before you strangled them."

He gave the doctor a sly smirk, "We both liked it rough, they forgot to use the safe word."

Now he went back to completely intimidating her. Filly shifted uncomfortably and she could feel the smile he sending, oh it felt horrid.

"You knew that romantic relationships and lustful ones aren't allowed between patients."

"Same goes for the Doctors am I correct?" his voice full of venom. Doctor Young's face turned pale and brushed a hair strand out of her face.

"Moving on"

Kaine darkly chuckled to himself and leaned forward again and whispered so only Filly would hear, "May I say you are lookingextremely ravishing today, if you are ever _in need_ you know which cell is mine" his fingers began to stroke the back of her neck.

"Mr Kaine, take your hand off me right-"

"One, zero!" and Freddie lunged.

There's three things you can do in this sort of situation, you can either just sit terrified in your seat and accepted whatever happens to you, or you can move out the way by jumping out the seat or you can stand up and send your fist into your attackers face. Three options and you have to choose one in four seconds. The cannibal was fast, so close he could almost touch her but instead of jumping out of the way like Filly had planned her body had a different idea.

Filly flipped herself backwards in the air, her feet collided with the cannibal's head, and she heard a gargling sound then landed gracefully behind the chair.

_What the fuck just happened?_

Freddie was quickly back on his feet his teeth gnashing together he screamed and Filly prepared herself for his neck attack but in a few seconds he fell flat on the floor, he had been shot with a sedative.

Everything had then moved pretty quickly, the patients had been escorted one by one back to their cells, they went without complaint though Kaine gave Filly a look which she'd never forget.

_What a creep._

Instead of being taken back to her room Doctor Young asked her to follow her to her office for a talk.

The first thing that Filly noticed in her office was the black mask, she didn't understand why she would have something as amazing as it on her wall, Young didn't deserve it. The Doctor sat in her chair and pressed play on a tape recorder, "I'm sorry I thought Doctor La-"

"I'm afraid Doctor Laird has suffered…a minor breakdown, for the next little while until he is fit enough to return to work I shall be you Doctor, I hope you don't mind"

He had a breakdown? "I was only talking to him earlier today, how has he managed to have a breakdown?"

Doctor Young gave her a stern look but Filly wasn't backing down, she wasn't going to leave without an answer. As another moment ticked by Doctor sighed as calmly answered, "After you left, Crane had an interview with him, as you know we had a bad incident with Crane a few months ago, but he never stopped trying to experiment on us, he had chosen Doctor Laird…it wasn't until later on the effects showed."

A cold shiver ran down Filly's back as she listened to the Doctor, in the back of her mind she knew that he was getting ready for the Joker coming back.

"However, we shall proceed. Even though you've already had a one-on-one session I feel that we should have a little time to chat today, is that alright?"

Filly only nodded. Filly had never liked Doctor Young, but then again who did, in a sense everything that was still to come was her fault.

"How are you feeling after what just happened?"

"Weird" she admitted.

"It's very unlike you; you never use violence in a situation like this."

 _It was hardly violence!_ " He was going to rip off my skin and eat me Young, in that type of situation its either fight or flight."

She didn't respond to Filly's statement, "We will let you off with this behaviour this once, have you been going through other changes lately?"

_Oh no but I've had some weird shit happen to me, Iike, I had this nightmare right, it's a real funny story, all the bad guys like Joker, Bane and Croc all threaten me, then I woke up inside an asylum, so I've had a pretty few weird hours…_

She was about to make a snarky comment, not exactly the same as her thought but something in the doctor changed, she noticed her movement was very tense and not of a professional look. It was very off putting.

"You look stressed Doctor Young, is everything alright?"

For a moment she thought that the Doctor wasn't going to tell her anything but Young answered, "Things aren't going well…Miss Harleen Quinzel has been missing for a few hours, Riddler hasn't been found yet and other super criminal patients have been acting up and I just don't-"her phone began to ring, she shaking picked it up and began to talk to whoever was on the other side.

Filly was screaming in her head. How long was it going to be? She wasn't even ready for it; she hadn't even found her strength yet!

_It'll be alright Filly, you know what happens, you have the upper hand, and it won't be too bad._

She knew she was lying to herself; she was pulled out of her thought's when she heard the doctors phone slam down.

Filly looked to the doctor whose hands were clawed on to the edges of her table, she bit her lip and her breathing seemed to quicken, her professional look had collapsed onto the desk in an invisible puddle. This could only mean one thing to Filly.

The games were soon to begin.


	3. It's Just a Game

Filly refused to go back to her room, she wasn't going to miss her chance to see the Joker and Batman up close before the chaos erupted. She imagined herself sitting back at home with eyes glued to the screen and waiting for the fun to begin, the giant doors to the asylum opening, the Joker secured and the long walk through intensive treatment.

Standing close to Doctor Young she kept her head down and just listened and studied everyone's reaction to the Joker returning. Some guards looked on high alert and other seemed rather boring, almost like they've been through hundreds of 'Joker returns' and Doctor Young looked calm but Filly knew that she was just covering up. How can someone hid their emotions like that so well, in the tape recordings she always try to sound that she was better, like nothing to make her angry or lose a nerve, though it was a horrible thing to think about, Filly was glad that she got killed, she had it coming to her.

Giggles belong to cute little babies who get easily amused by washing machines. Giggles aren't so adorable when they come from a mad man. You could be anyone, you could not be into Batman at all but you'd recognise that laugh anywhere, that laugh would send you running to the hills. For Filly it was the most surreal things to hear, from television speakers to actually hearing it from the man…monster itself was more terrifying than anything she could imagine. She obviously forgot about the things that were still to come.

"What's up Doc? Put me in for tomorrow at four, we've got a lot of catching up to do"It was the little things like that that made the game great, when you first played the game you'd completely look past what he just said then second time you play you smile as you know what he means.

Filly took a quick glance in the Jokers direction but he was looking elsewhere. But as her eyes moved away she noticed that Batman was looking directly at her and her heart just stopped beating. Imagine looking at your hero or God that was the best she could describe it. In fact she remembered when they were in the elevator if you zoomed into the Jokers face he looked directly at you a few times just before it blacked out, it gave you shivers.

The Joker and Batman had continued on and Doctor Young and Filly left Intensive Treatment, but once they were outside Filly had been ordered to go back to her room but in a few minutes time that wasn't going to safe place, nowhere on the island was going to safe.

Getting to Arkham West was fairly easy, she had expected the doors to be shut but they opened for her when the sensors detected her, _**They must only stay bolted shut when the chaos starts**_. Instead of doing what Young told her to do, she ran to the showers and found the boxes of clothes and put on her outfit and ran back outside before she was caught or asked too many questions. Time seemed to drag on, **_God this is taking forever to kick off!_** But it gave her time to ponder on about her character, though she got herself confused, _**OK your real life name is Curly, but in Arkham its Emily but your true Batman name is Filly. During this game I'm discovering what my character Filly is like. Right, glad I got that figured out.**_

The guards didn't question her, she must have usually gone walking around at night and then the alarms went off. She knew how she wanted her story to begin but she still had to patiently wait for the Joker to get to the visiting centre as she knew the only places he was ever really in were intensive treatment, the visiting centre and the botanical gardens. She hid silently so none of the guards could see her and when the time felt right she ran towards the visiting centre doors, opened them and quickly slammed them back shut once she was inside.

"I don't think they saw me" she breathed out a sigh of relief and walked towards the set of doors that lead you to the Joker. Filly opened the door with a big swing almost as dramatic like Batman and took in her surroundings. There was damp feel to the centre, it was murky, dark and cold and poorly lit, she noticed a few careless moths bumping into the light bulbs and a spider twisting a fly in its dangerous web, a woodlouse scurried along a chair leg and as she turned her head her breath caught hold of the glass that would hold a patient and their visitor apart and two handprints appeared on it faintly. Filly couldn't imagine anyone else noticing any of these things and it only occurred to her in that moment that her eye sight was enhancing everything, she could see everything. But the only thing that her attention now was the Joker's body with a TV instead of head sitting behind the glass. Filly took a couple of cautious steps and then the TV made a static sound and it switched itself on and the mad man was on the screen.

"Come in! Sit down, take off your mask. So Bats I was thinking-"

"I'm not Batman, Mr Joker" interrupted Filly approaching him slowly.

There was a second or two of silence and then the Joker's arms began to move, he took a firm grasp of the TV and lifted it slightly off his head to peek out, Filly gave a small wave and the Clown Prince of Crime groaned. "Ooohhh it's just you."

"I'm sorry were you expecting someone else" Filly said edging to him closer.

"Yessss a man in a black bat costume, you wouldn't of happened to of seen him have you?" he asked through a sarcastic tone.

Filly rolled her eyes and just went with it, "No sorry not since you arrived."

"Well then leave; I don't want you here until my friend pokes his long nosy point nose in here."

 _ **Well tough I'm not leaving yet**_ , "What do you have planned for me Joker?"

"Why would you even think I'd have anything planned for you m'dear!?" he laughed and sat down on the chair and folded his arms, he seemed to have a smug sort of look on his face that made Filly believe he was challenging her.

 _ **Challenge accepted**_.

She thought for a brief second, "You have games for everyone, surely you wouldn't leave me out." she said.

He gave a little giggle and scratched his chin, "Do you remember the first day we met?" Filly shook her head, "You were only a little girlie, I'd say five or six, and I had bribed a kitchen worker to add a tiny dose of my venom into the gravy for dinner. There weren't many people who had the pie for dinner, only seventeen people but I laughed, so hard that my sides were splitting. But before the guards were even close enough to reach me I felt a punch in the stomach and I shot backwards and bashed off the wall, it was painful but not quite near a Batman punch, but it made me angry," he started laughing and stood up from his chair, "Imagine my surprise when my eyes met the ones of an angry little girl eh. Hehe I couldn't stop laughing, but I knew you had some of that gravy, hehe going through your messy eating stage of childhood, had fallen on your t-shirt, you were immune to my venom. Then after that I threw everything I had at you, not even my laughing gas worked!"

Filly swallowed the lump that formed in her throat and stood as still as she could and listened as he continued on, "The Doctors were oh so protective of you, but I wouldn't expect your child mind to remember all the things they done to you, they weren't all very nice. Running tests constantly, taking your blood, imagine all the nightmares they must have given you hmm."

She sure if he believed him but this was the Joker; you should take everything he says with a pinch of salt, "Is there a reason for why you are telling me this?"

He gave her a disgruntled look before answering her question, "All I really want to know is…what makes you so special eh? Why are you little Miss Princess of Arkham? You asked if I had a game for you well…it's more like I'm giving you history homework hehe" he giggled, "Go and find out about yourself."

_**That's all?!** _

"That's all?" she asked not succeeding in hiding her disappointment.

"Run along now Horsey" he said ignoring her question, "I am a very busy man but I will be keeping a close eye but please pop in again soon." He picks up the TV and puts in back on his and moves into a pose and stays in it.

Sighing but accepting that that's all that he's going to give her, she turns round to leave but glances back for a few seconds and he's changed position again with his arm sticking out; she opens the door and she can't help but smile.

"Where to go to first then?" she asked going back into sneaking, she could sense no guards though she knew about the one up in the tower. As she walked out the two goons who were working on the big Joker face door stopped and looked at each other then at Filly. Were they supposed to attack her? Their orders were to build this and if Batman they were to fight him. Before they could make up their mind Filly had already started running towards the medical building. She figured if those guys were building away Batman was still getting his way through intensive treatment and there was a chance that Harley with Commissioner Gordon hadn't got out yet.

Walking up the steps to the building she saw the group of goons chatting amongst themselves, smoking and laughing at whatever cruel jokes they were sharing. She made sure that they couldn't see her and tried to decide what she should do. _**I don't remember fighting that many goons outside the medical centre so some of them must be waiting for Harley.**_ She didn't want to go in through the roof as that was for Batman…she counted to three and took a few deep breaths before walking towards them.

"Well lookie here, little girl got lost or somfin"

"Girlie? Not many of them in this place, most of them die, eh!" one rushed forward and grabbed Filly by the wrist, "You can't go in there darlin', bad stuff is gonna happen."

"Then again something bad might happen out there" one said with a suggestive tone. She didn't like the sound of that.

Filly managed to squirm out of the goons grip, she looked at the goon she decided was the ring leader until Quinn got here, she gave him a sweet smile, "I'm sorry boys, even though I'd love to stay and chat the Joker has sent me on a personal mission and I've to start in the Medical Centre and I'd rather get started before the Batman Shows up."

He looked at her with a confused expression not too sure if he should believe her, "I'm not sure little missy, maybe you should wait till Harley gets here"

"No, I need to get this done quickly, I'll be in and out in a moment, I'll be gone before you and your men are put to work."

She didn't know if she sounded like a true bad guy but it would have to do just now, she had a feeling that the 'talking' technique wouldn't work for her long, she'd have to start fighting soon.

The goon sighed, "Fine but understand that if you are still in there when Bman gets here and you get caught up in our shootings, it's your own fault. Understand?"

Filly smile, "Perfectly" she responded by going on her tip toes and giving him a peck on the cheek and his mates cheered and one whistled. Filly turned and quickly entered the building feeling happy that she got past her first confrontation without having to fight.

The Mansion and the Medical Unit were her favourite places to explore in the game; she hated the Botanical Gardens and the Sewer, even though the Botanical Gardens held some pretty good riddles it felt like that part of the game took forever to get complete and as for the Sewers, she only hated it because of the Killer Croc part, that too felt like it took forever to complete plus the part where the camera angle changes if you didn't know it was coming you surely died at the first try of it. She liked the Medical building because it also had some good riddles hidden, a lot of stuff was happening in the building and it was the first place Scarecrow made his appearance. The Mansion was one of the greatest parts of the game as Filly loved history, and when playing the game, Batman went to the room where they kept all the files on patients throughout the ages and oh how she'd love to read through them all and see what stories the asylum had to share, and also, the Scarecrow made him second her appearance there.

That was one thing Filly never understood, why did Scarecrow get a lot of female attention? She remembered reading fan-fiction and a lot of people had commented mostly about their love for Scarecrow and she failed to see the attraction. He wore a mask; you didn't even get to see his real face! Then again she wasn't one to judge, maybe if she encounter him face to face she'd finally see what everyone was talking about.

Once Filly had reached the main area of the medical centre she expected to see a few doctors around unaware of what was happening but it was quiet

"Where are the Doctors?" _**Maybe they are in the other rooms, good chance to snoop about before the goons break loose here**_ _._ But before that she had to check out Killer Crocs old cell. Even though she hated Killer Croc this was on her 'Favourite Riddles' list. She placed her hands on the bars and looked around the hell cell. There was an awful smell god knows how long it has been hanging around and by the look of the cell for a pretty long time. One thing she didn't understand was why the doctors hadn't removed the bones inside, it was understandable why they wouldn't if Killer Croc still occupied it but… _ **You gotta understand girl that it's just a game**_ _,_ she thought.

A sensation ran through her hands, it seemed to come running from the bars, the hair on the back of her neck were standing up. _**What the hell is happening?**_ It was beginning to feel like a weak electrical current going up her arms across her shoulders, twirling through her neck then into her brain. She closed her eyes and out of nowhere an image started to play under her eyelids. It was a very strange experience.

The image was of Killer Croc in this cell, he was silent apart from his loud deep breaths, there were two guards standing outside watching him and all of a sudden they start to mock him and tease him. _**What are you doing?! Don't do that you idiots!**_ Croc didn't say a word of react which Filly thought was very out of character but she watched the scene, still angry with the guards who thought that they were the tough guys just he was in the cell. Soon Croc lost his patience. He had known that the bars to the cell were getting rusty but he could only break it wide enough to pull someone through. He roared and grabbed hold of the bars and tore them off, his large hand rushed out and grabbed one of the guards and swung him about for a bit knocking the other out, he dragged the guard into his cell and bit his arm clean off then threw him to the ground, he then put his hand back out and grabbed hold of the guard knock. Minutes later a Doctor comes out of the elevator and is hit by the smell of blood and rushes over to Killer Crocs cell. He tries to scream but his mouth erupts and is sick over the floor. And Croc just laughs. _"Heh heh heh don't worry Doc, I've had my fill, I have even saved a hand for a midnight snack heh heh heh"_

The electric current suddenly stopped and Filly gasped for breath and let go of the bars, she bent over her arms resting on her knees. She needed a minute. Or two…or three.

"I think…I should start my mission."


	4. Say Hello to Something Scary

The medical building was a lot bigger than Filly thought. The first time she had played the game in easy mode this part of the game was over in a breeze and then she played it in normal and hard mode, she couldn't remember how many times Bane defeated her.

There was no sign of Doctors anywhere, she couldn't hear them but she thought she had already wasted enough time and hurriedly began to snoop about.

From all the books and graphic novels the Doctors seemed very unattached from the world, they were very lifeless with no personally at all, she remembered "Arkham Asylum Madness" by Sam Kieth and every doctor in it acted different, they just weren't 'normal'. They were all hanging on to sanity by a thin thread and in a way it proves the Joker's point, a part of the asylum, and a part of him lives inside all of us.

Filly focused on the little offices, opening cabinets, opening drawers, studying pill packets; she picked up the "DeaCap" packet and pulled out a layer of unused pills. They had a million boxes of them either sitting on the desk of tucked up in selves and even some hidden in the drawers, no doubt some of the Doctors were taking their patients medication.

Hospitals had never spooked her before, all apart from this one; she remembered when she was looking for riddler goodies she hadn't expected to come across heads in jars! Filly was walking up to the last little office and almost screamed when her eyes made contact with the floating head in a jar. She cursed then shook her head and finally took hold of a tape, the tape she had been so eager to get her hands on. When she first played the game this was the first tape she had come across as she hadn't really investigated into riddles and missed the Harley Quinn tape in Intensive Treatment; she left them to the end. But the hard difficulty game she was playing before she fell into this universe, she was trying to get all of the riddles and catch the Riddler before the final show down with Joker.

"Final show down…still feels like a long way away yet" she said to herself.

Opening a drawer she hunted around for a tape recorder and luckily she found one, she couldn't help but feel excited as she slotted it in and pressed the play button. She knew all the words; she had even gone on to YouTube and downloaded all the interview tapes to listen to!

The tape began to play.

"Patient interview number 21. Patients name is Edward Nigma, also known as the Riddler. So Edward, Warden Sharp tells me you've been leaving threatening riddles scrawled on the asylum walls, again." Filly could picture Doctor Young leaning her elbows on the table with her hands clasped, and Riddler would have his leg rested on his other knee and arms folded but when he would become talking he'd waved his arms a bit dramatically.

"One would have to be severely paranoid to read threats into harmless riddles, Doctor Young. May I test you with one?" he asked her stroking his chin, slight bit of stubble.

"Very well."

"What is it that walks on four legs, then two legs and finally three legs?" Filly imagined him smirking and raising his eyebrow.

"A human being. As a baby is crawls on four legs, as an adult it walks on two and in later years it uses a cane." She ended her sentence making it sound like the answer was very obvious.

And then the Riddler gave that little dark chuckle, "Good try, but the answer to all three is a baby. True, it crawls on four legs but cut off its legs it can only wriggle on two limbs. Give it a crutch it can hobble around on three. You see?"

"That's horrible, how can you even joke about that?!" she said; you'd think she'd of heard worse things.

"Easily Doctor, it's not my baby." The way he said 'it's not my baby' was just very satisfying to her ears.

Once the tape clicked to prove it had ended, she rewound it back to the start left the tape in the same position as she found it, Batman was sure to be arriving at any time and he'd need it to get a step closer to Riddler.

That was one villain she hoped she'd at least get to speak to even if it was only for one minute, she'd love to be his younger sister and cause trouble with him. **A brother and sister duo** , she smiled at the thought. **At the start he seemed like the baby of the Batman villains.** As she thought this she couldn't help but picture all the villains as one big family.

"Joker and Harley are clearly the mother and father. Poison Ivy is the sexy aunty and the Penguin is the rich uncle. Riddler is the baby brother and Man Bat is the middle brother who wants to prove so hard to everyone he can be big and bad. Scarecrow and Victor Zsasz are like the strange cousins you'd stay away from. TwoFace and Black Mask…I think they'd be brothers always trying to better one and another, trying to be top dog. Mister Freeze and Bane…two very smart guys but both very different...I see Freeze being a more grandparent figure and Bane to be protective older brother…though I might change that later on."

She couldn't decide on the others, she just happened to realize how big the 'family' was.

After spending a while looking about voices could now be heard far off and not wanting to be caught Filly quickly stepped into the elevator and the doors shut then pushed the down button. She didn't like this elevator, the smell of death clung in the tight space, how many dead bodies had this brought down to the depths of the medical building.

"What, no you can't be there already, it's too early, how…oh it's just you!"

 **Gave me a heart attack you bastard** , she thought as she looked at Joker on the elevator monitor screen.

He giggles in a low tone, "Having fun yet?" he asks.

Filly shrugged her shoulders; nothing hot was kicking off yet.

The Joker laughs and leans back on his throne, "Aww that's a shame, but cheer up," he moves closer to the camera and pulls a grin, "The fun part is just right around the corner."

The elevator jumped as it touched the ground floor, the Joker disappeared off the screen and the doors gave a rusty sound then opened. She crouched down and moved slowly out, she could barely see the doctor's heads in the glass window separating them from her. The real problem was that she wouldn't be able to go to the morgue as the wall was still together and it would be very unlikely she could knock it down and even if she could the noise would certainly attract the doctors and now wasn't the time to get busted. Above her she noticed the vent and her eyes lit up as she knew what she would find if she went through it.

She jumped up and her hands reached on to the vent, she pulled hard and it moved around a little but her weight couldn't get it off so she put her shoes against the wall and used all the strength she had. With one pull the vent tore it's self off and Filly landed heavy on the floor with a loud thud. Frozen in position her eyes looked to the left but it was clear that the Doctors hadn't heard a thing. Cautiously she got back to her feet, jumped into the vent; she couldn't contain her excitement for when she got into Harley's office.

The way she could only describe Harley's office was, a girl who had gone completely crazy for their fandom or one true pairing. She had started counting all the posters covered in lipstick but she had lost count about five times. But Filly just couldn't help herself when her eyes spied the original Harley hat, she carefully took it off the head and put it on, it fit her surprisingly well but there was no mirror though she reckoned she looked good. Filly had wondered why her office hadn't been cleaned out; the small office looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in months. But then another thought came to her head, how long did it take the Doctors to realize that the Joker had Harley wrapped around his fingers. If you were standing outside the office and saw all the Joker posters and newspaper clippings you'd maybe just think that the Doctor was getting into the research and was showing dedication, but of course the lipstick marks wouldn't get you thinking that.

In the cabinets were books on top of books and papers folded and crumbled up in the corners. Filly took out a few papers and read them, they were all notes from a Joker interview, but these ones were more, how do you say, 'confidential', why she'd leave these in her office Filly didn't understand. In the desk drawers everything was colour coded, in the green files were simple photos of the Joker, in the purple files were newspaper and magazine clippings, in the black files were Joker interviews and in the blue files were more Joker interviews but in these interviews other patients of the asylum were mentioned.

It was exactly what she was looking for. Her eyes scrolled quickly across the words, most of the things the Joker said about the rest of the villains were insults. Nothing too interesting but she didn't find anything mention of her, she looked through everything again, then a third time but nothing.

She was about to check it for the fourth time and then there was a series of screams. Her head snapped up from the papers then moved towards the wall and placed her back tightly against it.

The moment Batman stepped out of the elevator he was affected by Scarecrows toxin…and Batman won't be too far behind. The screams caught her attention and she couldn't help but peek. Through the grime on the glass she could see the skinny shadow, the way he moved made it look like skin was hanging and swinging from him. His shadow reached out and the long needles ran along the walls on to the ceiling, she couldn't believe that his shadow was scaring her. The worst thing was his laugh, sure it was terrifying but it didn't have anything on the Joker's.

Playing the game she had never really thought the Scarecrow parts of the game were that scary, most people thought it was awesome. But you never got a look into the Doctors fears, they weren't like Batman unable to defend themselves…and nether was she.

"Oh fuck" she whispered to herself as she realized just how much trouble was about to happen to her, she had no clue what she fear and she didn't want to find out.

Carefully getting up off the floor she was about to jump back into the vent when she realized that the screams had stopped, the only sound was a creepy water droplet echo sound. **That can't be right, the acoustics of the rooms wouldn't make things echo**. Something cold splashed on her cheek and lips, she wiped whatever fell on her face and when she looked at her fingertips they were tinted red. Filly raised her head to the ceiling, cracks had spread out like the branches of a tree and red liquid which she horribly assumed was blood and it was dripping on to the floor. The second sound that followed was a creaking which sounded like the ceiling was about to cave in, Harley's office was about to be filled with blood.

Let the madness kick in.


	5. Blood and Sugery

Time was running in slow motion for a series of moments, the blood was beginning to rush down into the room but it was as if someone had pressed super slow on a DVD remote. The first few blood droplets traveled slow seconds to the ground but Filly wasn't sticking around to stare in wonder she climbed back through the vent and dropped onto the floor but lost her balance and fell on her side. Taking deep breaths she calmed herself down and got back to her feet. She was getting out of here.

"Screw this" she said to herself. Filly opened the elevator doors fully and was about to step inside but her eyes locked on to a figure inside. He was dressed in rag clothes but most of his scrawny stomach was bare, he wore a gas mask and attached to his fingers were syringes containing a golden liquid. A scream was stuck in Filly's throat when the realization finally kicked in. Scarecrow cocked his head slightly then laughed, he said something but Filly was too scared to concentrate on his words. As Filly slowly backed away from him; he raised his arms above his head then lowered them forward as if he was reaching out to Filly.

That was when blood rushed out of the elevator; the current was so strong that it knocked Filly off her legs, dragged her round the corner and slammed her against the wall. Blood smashed against her as she struggled to stand up and when she was able to steady herself the blood was already around her waist. "This isn't real! This isn't real!" she screamed as she moved through the blood, it was getting higher and higher, the smell stuck to her nose, the tangy taste spreading over her tongue, the horrible feel of it on her bare skin.

"Oh it is very real my dear" he chuckled. He came into sight; the blood parted a path for him like the sea had done for Moses, he was upon reaching distance from her and she could sense a cruel smile underneath his mask. Without even thinking Filly took a deep breath, closed her eyes and dived into the blood. She had no idea which direction she started swimming but it was away from Scarecrow, it seemed as if she had been in the blood for minutes and when she rose to the surface she spluttered out the blood and wiped it off her eyes. The blood now reaches her neck but it doesn't seem to be getting any higher, she can't see Scarecrow and panicky she began to swim back towards the elevator. Then she felt a hand grab her ankle and she was back under. Things nipped and bit her sides as if there were deadly fish in the blood river, she couldn't breathe in this nightmare and the worst part was she knew that Scarecrow would see her in pain when nothing truly was getting to her.

Scarecrow picked up that she was trying to fight against his toxin though she wasn't winning the battle. He laughed and stroked his needles together waiting for the right moment to give her an area dose as she hadn't screamed yet and he so badly wanted to hear her scream.

She kept telling herself that this wasn't real over and over again and it seemed to calm her slightly, but the fear was strangely replaced by annoyance. In the game the hallucinations were never as scary as this, plus in Batman's nightmare the bat light was his weapon against Scarecrow, what was her weapon meant to be?! Against her neck she felt Scarecrow's needles but they didn't puncture her skin, her body froze for a moment as she tried to imagine a nightmare worse than this. Filly closed her eyes and screamed inside her head waiting for some sort of pain. But nothing happened. She hesitantly opened one eye and looked up.

The scene changed, it returned back to normal, her skin and clothes were dry, there was no river of blood but Scarecrow was still towering over her but he looked smaller than he did in her hallucination. His arm was high in the air and it was being brought down in slow motion, the same thing was occurring from before and Filly took her chance to scramble out of his grip and shuffle away from him, then within a flash the time was back in its usual state and Scarecrow's hand punched the hard ground, she was surprised that none of his needles had bent or fallen off.

She laughed internally when she saw the surprise on his face though it didn't last, he saw her a few feet away and stared at her, "What sort of tricks do you have hmm?" he thought to himself.

"Little horsey lost her spirit, can't run for freedom." He cackled, he admitted to himself that he was losing his temper as he knew Batman would be here soon and oh he so wanted to play with her too, "I'll get to play with you later on Missy, I have other work to do." He'd sedate her and strap her down in the morgue, give her a different sort of nightmare.

For some reason Filly chose this as the wrong moment to think "It would have been much better if you said 'I'll get to ride you later.'" Internally slapping herself she picked herself off the floor and ran towards the elevator with Scarecrow right behind. She quickly opened the doors and snapped around to see his hand centimetres for her face, she kicked him hard in the stomach and he flew back. Inside the elevator, doors closed she repeatedly pressed the 'up' button and it started moving.

Her heart was banging violently against her ribcage; she slid down to the ground begging for tears to fall from her eyes. Then the Joker zapped on the screen.

"Don't forget to pick up your prescription," he joked. Filly didn't think it was funny.

The journey up to the hospital was a longer than she remember, once at the top she opened up the elevator doors she staggered forward and landed on her knees then fell on to her back. Filly closed her eyes and took deep breaths glad to taste the air, it still wasn't nice but it was better than the blood. Footsteps were running towards her but a black shadow landed beside her first, she was helped up to her feet and given a chance to focus.

Her eyes met with all the doctors, they all gave her a worried look but she waved her hand signalling that she was fine. Then she looked at the shadow. Even though he had star struck her before Batman's presence was exhilarating. His face was hard and serious, no emotion at all but he put his hand on her shoulder she took as some sort of friendly gesture.

"What are you doing down there Filly?" one of the doctors asked.

Filly couldn't help but give a snarky response, "Looking for a doctor obviously."

"Doctor Young told you to return to your room."

"If you haven't noticed Doctor the island is becoming more unsafe, I can bet you right now that my room has been trashed." It felt strange to be having this sort of conversation in front of Batman, like a teenager having a small fight with parents. Oh God please don't think I'm just another teenager Bman!

"Speaking of Doctor Young, she went to X-ray, Doctor Kellerman went to the Patient Observational Room and Doctor Chen went to surgery."

"Don't worry I'll find the other Doctors" said Batman turning to leave. Filly's eyes widened, this was her chance to really help Batman.

"Batman wait I can help!" she pushed past the Doctors that tried to stop and went to the Dark Knight's side.

"Stay here girl, I can handle this on my own" he replied pushing open the door that led to the other parts of the medical building.

Handleit eh? By the time this night is finished you'll be crawling on all fours. "My name is Filly, look I'm here I can fight," Kind of, "I'll go to Surgery and get Doctor Chen, one less thing for you to worry about."

He didn't look convinced at all but he had no idea how much time he had left to getting closer to the Joker, his eyes soften a little and he nodded his head, "Fine, if you aren't here when I come back-…"

"I get taught a very valuable lesson" she interrupted and was about to make her way when Batman grabbed her hand and gave her a batarang.

"You may need it" said Batman then he took off to X-ray. Filly had chosen to go to Surgery as she knew it was all she had to do was K-O the Joker's goons, she'd be no use in X-ray or the Patient Observational Room. On her way there she passed some deceased guards just lying in the middle of the corridor, she pulled them out of the way and luckily she there was a white sheet in a bundle, she put the sheet over the dead guards then quickly ran to Surgery.

Stepping into the room she imagined sitting at home about to go forth and fight, she smiled to herself as she wanted to say the exact same words Batman used in the cut scene. God Filly, be serious! You're more or less just straight out of a Scarecrow nightmare! She walked towards the terrified Doctor Chen and placed her hand comfortably on his shoulder.

"Don't speak. You're safe now."

"But…but it's a trap."

"I know but it wasn't meant for me."

"Ooohhh I see we're on the good guy's side for the moment," said the Joker his face appearing on the screen above them, "My boys will be sooooo disappointed, or then again maybe they won't! He he well get down there boys! Show her a thing or too."

The first four goons dropped down each excited for different reasons, thrilled that they get to beat up a girl, eager to get into her pants and some just pleased that she wasn't Batman. The first goon made some sort of war cry and went running towards her with a punch ready and all that Filly could do was duck. He made a few more attempts at hitting her but he missed every time, so he tried another time out of frustration and so she took her chance at punching his stomach and he surprising flew a few feet backwards. He gurgled then curled up into a ball for a few seconds then passed out; the other goons stared at their fallen mate then back to Filly in astonishment.

She grinned and readied herself for another attack, "Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!"

Two of the thugs ran towards her and she did the same but before they could hit her she slid on her knees between them and attacked the thug who stood in the back. Surprised he cowered and received a punch in the spine then a harsh kick on the leg; satisfied she turned round to see a fist inches from her far, she had no time to duck but fortunately the punch wasn't strong. She dealt with the two goons and waited for the other four to drop down. These guys didn't waste any time, they threw kicks and punches and all Filly could do was defend herself and it was frustrating her. Grunting she ran up to the wall, jumped on it then flipped herself backward and managed to land behind one of the goons, she grabbed him and took him down quickly and tried to do other little tricks and flips. She remembered the batarang in her pocket, she threw it at a thug distracting him for a moment while she took on the largest thug, it had took her a while to get any strong punches to him but which a kick to the stomach he landed flat on the ground unconscious. The final two thugs weren't sure what to do, one decided to run towards her and for her final trick she did a back flip and her boots connected with his head, the other was making a dash for the door but Filly had picked up the batarang, thrown it at the thug which knocked him into the electric door barrier. The fight was over.

The Joker flashed on the screen, his face had a look as if to say 'How did you do that?!', "Don't get too full of yourself, Filly. I'm just softenin' ya up! Think of this as a preview to the main event, I so hope you'll be there."


	6. Working Things Out

Filly stood still in front of the elevator waiting for a few more minutes to tick by. Batman had made his way down there not too long ago and she wanted to make sure that he was running through his nightmare before she went down.

Before Batman went down she showed Doctor Chen where the others were and waited for the Dark Knight, she couldn't tell if he was surprised to see her (although she was surprised she survived her first fight!), and behind him was Cash, Young and the Doctor Kellerman. Young looked calm but Filly knew that Young was internally shitting herself, Cash looked as though he wanted to teach a few goons a lesson and Doctor Kellerman was shaking so much Filly just wanted to make him a cup of tea to steady his nerves.

Once back in the main area of the medical building they all gathered together, Cash and Young didn't stay long as they headed off to Arkham Mansion. Then the elevator sounded. Batman quickly took control of the situation and sent the Doctors to Patient Observational Room and told them to barricade themselves; he was about to give Filly an order but the elevator doors had just started to open. Batman quickly went up to his gargoyles and panicking Filly ran to find one of the decorative panels on the floor that could open.

Filly remembered this part of the game for one reason only; her sister started playing Xbox. Her sister could only be described as a girly girl who only had make-up and boys on the brain so it was a curious day when Filly had been sitting doing work then suddenly her sister asked, "Can I play the Xbox?"

At first Filly wanted to laugh at her then stop all serious and say no. But instead she put on the game for her sister. Her sister got through the first part of the game very, very slowly and missed a lot of Riddler trophies, riddles and important things that any other fan would pay attention to. Filly tried to give her words of wisdom but her sister didn't give a damn. After doing most of the 'difficult' parts for her Filly had said to her, "You know, the full point of games is, to work things out for yourself then you get the great feeling of accomplishment."

Her sister just shrugged her shoulders and left her room.

The goons had been pacing back and forth for a while; she didn't know what was taking him so long to deal with the thugs. Filly was beginning to lose patience so she waited until one of the goons walked over past her, she climbed out from under as quietly as she could then took him out. Within seconds Joker came on the speakers, the other two started jogging towards her though she could see Batman gliding out of the darkness and managing to take the one furthers behind. The third had twisted round in panic with his gun up ready to shoot Batman. Before he could pull the trigger Filly managed to reach him and knock him out, her heart was racing with adrenaline that she could not steady herself; her hand grabbed hold of railings and took two deep breaths. **You're gonna have to control yourself Filly.**

She looked at Batman, then composed herself then turned herself to him, "What took you so long?"

"I wanted to see what you would do," he said simply then proceeded towards the elevator, "I want you to check up on the Doctors and see how their barricade holds. If I come across anyone else I'll send them to you there."

 **You won't find anyone else Batman** , she thought sadly. Now here she was going to disobey Batman, it took her mere seconds to run to the Patient Observational Room and check on the Doctors then back. Sighing she closed her eyes and pushed the button to call the elevator.

Back down there she took slow steps, everything seemed to be 'safe', Scarecrows gas seemed to have travelled along with the Batman so she quickly made her way along the path Batman and instead of heading towards the morgue she turned right and met with the thugs that Bman would meet right after his nightmare.

"Hey are you with the Batman?!" shouts the one in the red jumpsuit. Filly froze for a second as she realized that suit meant he was the one with the knife. How was she going to talk away out of this one? She could be flirty and flash a smile but she was sure she didn't look the part to play that sort of girl right now. She could be innocent but then the thugs might not take her seriously and just decide to get rid of an inconvenient young girl. Or she could go the troublemaker attitude. Not the best options in the entire world.

 **Troublemaker it is then.** "What does it look like idiot? Let me through, I need to see Harley."

The rest of the goons laughed and the one in the red jumpsuit approached her holding his knife firmly in his hands, "Listen kiddie, unless you want this plunged into your stomach I take it you clear off before, I'm not gonna be nice twice."

Filly grunted and rolled her eyes at him, "It's obvious nobodies filled you in mate. Joker has put me on my own little mission so I suggest you step aside and let me past; we don't want to upset Joker do we? I have a job to do and so do you, better we get along with it eh."

It was hard to tell this goons reaction, he lifted up his knife so it was level to her neck, he made it look like he was about strike but he waved his arm forward and said, "Well after you Princess. Oi Jerry! Escort this young lady through."

Filly couldn't believe she got her way through by speaking, she wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans and walked through the doors and was lead to a door by the one called Jerry. Her hand was about to push open the door but Jerry was feeling cheeky and slapped his large hand on her ass.

She froze for a moment but she could feel his perverted smile behind her. Wanting to keep the troublemaker attitude she turned around and with the blink of an eye she had his arm twisted round and on his knees, she leaned into his face and said harshly, "Try anything like that again, you're going to have to explain to your mates why you have two teeth missing, understand?"

He quickly nodded his head then she threw his away and went into the Experimental Chamber.

Within moments guns pointed at her, she had completely forgot that Batman was supposed to go through his part completely undetected.

"Hey! What's all the commotion about?! It's not Bman is it?!" came that oh so familiar voice. Harley Quinn cartwheeled her way into sight and laid her eyes on Filly, "Pipe down boys she ain't no threat."

The guns were brought down and Filly could breathe right again, she quickly made her way towards Harley and was about to start her first conversation with the sexy clown but was took by surprise when she was pulled into the tightest hug she had ever received, and what made it awkward was that her chin was directly under Harley's hugely exposed breasts.

"Mistah J said that you were out finding yah feet," Harley pulled away quickly then suddenly the tone of her voice changed, "Is the outfit you've chosen?" Harley asked staring her up and down with a less than impressed look on her face.

"It's a work in progress" Filly said shyly as Harley pulled down her top slightly to expose more of her cleavage, "Um I don't really have the breasts for it" she lightly pushed Harley's hands.

"Don't worry sweetie I'll sort you out properly soon" she winked.

In Filly's head she could picture Harley picking out a something similar to her own outfit, maybe a pair of really tight shorts, a very low cut top no doubt she'd have to wear a push-up bra, matching boots in different colours, probably a waistcoat with some sort of horse rein design on it, maybe she'd had some sort of whip or riding crop weapon and then to top it all off a leather collar similar to Harley's and a statement hair style. **Oh God what would my mum think?!**

"How do you like my new uniform?" she asked Filly giving a twirl.

Filly got a good chance to look her up and down, throughout her internet travels she would look at people's cosplay of this particular outfit. The game designers really out done themselves, on most playthrough video's she watched on YouTube the top comment would always be related to how much someone wanted to fuck her or just how much they hated her.

"Looks pretty hot Harley" Filly smiled.

The dolled up clown began talking and walking down the stairs and so Filly followed pursuit, "Been having fun tonight so far sweetie?" she asked.

"Um you could say that, not got a scratch on me yet so I must be doing well" Filly replied her eyes locking on to the floor; she knew she probably looked nervous to the clown princess and her goons but being in Harley's presence was almost overwhelming.

"You decided which team your batting for yet sweets?"

"No, not really, I'm sort of…looking out for myself" the answer couldn't of sounded lamer but Harley didn't say anything so her answer must have satisfied the clown princess.

As Harley babbled on about something unimportant they stopped outside a sort of greenhouse built structure and for a few moments Filly didn't take it in until last minute.

"So what's in here?" she suddenly asked stopping Harley from talking.

"In there? It's grown up stuff, not for little kids."

 **Well those words were uncalled for.** "Oh pleeeeeease Harley," I begged clasping my hands together and giving a small pout, "Succumb to my adorableness" she added. **You do realize how much of a kid you're acting like right now…oh shut up brain.**

Harley giggled in sign of defeat, "Alright alright, how could I say no to you," she took out a key from her cleavage and put it in the lock then twisted, "But don't touch anything."

The doors opened and they were greeted by mist, Harley waved her hands to clear some away then hopped on the computer and started to fiddle around with the machines settings. Filly took slow steps forward the mist gradually parted and she was met with the first of the horrific sites the asylum had to offer.

In front of her wasn't Bane in the comics, graphic novels or TV show, before her was just a man in torture. There was hardly any strength remaining in him, his venom was his power and glory and it had easily been taken away from him. She didn't know how other players felt but Filly felt sorry for him; she knew that she should side with the good guys but when Batman first see's Bane like this Batman sounds so concerned, he has some sort of respect for his rogues even though he's dealt with all their evil schemes for years.

Filly reached forward, her fingertips brushed a part of his mask then looked for his flesh, he felt like he was under the wrath of a monstrous fever; she slowly rotated her fingers soothingly hoping that it was some sort of comfort to him. To a normal person if they saw this they'd think Filly was completely insane, they wouldn't realize how corrupt this was and how bad it made everyone look, it sort of proves that anyone can be a hero and a villain.

There was a small twitch of his eye then it followed by a long sigh. Bane lifted his head the best he could and managed to look Filly dead in the eye. The look he gave her broke her heart. Bane opened his mouth as if to say something but Filly stopped him, "Save your strength Mr Bane."

She had never seen such a mixture of emotion swirling in someone's eyes. There was anger at the Doctors for doing this to him. There was unwelcomed pain and misery. And there was confusion behind them too, the weak Bane saw this girl as a mere child that he could crush between his hands if he had all his power but her hands felt so comforting, something he had never accepted in his life and in the midst of his cocktail of emotions he enjoyed the small touch.

But then her hand was away, the dreaded Quinn snatched her hand away and dragged her out telling the girl off. Bane made a note to find this girl if he ever returned to his glorious self.

Harley wasn't best pleased for a matter of moments then give a random sigh and punched Filly's arm playfully, "Can stay mad at my second best friend" she giggled. Filly was about to reply but Joker's voice came through the speaker warning that Batman was soon going to be there. Harley grabbed hold of Filly and rushed up to the room were Commissioner Gordon was being held, the clown queen picked up her gun and jabbed it a few times into Gordon's side. Filly tried to give Gordon her best 'sorry' look, "Hey sweetie sit beside the CoMish here I'm sure he could use some more female company."

She didn't argue she sat next to him and once Harley turned her back to them to look out for Batman, Filly unbound Gordon from the cable Quinn had used to tie him up and as soon as his hands were free Batman came crashing through and Harley was knocked off her feet and unconscious.

"You took longer than I thought."

"He's out of control. He's trying to prove something. I'm not sure I can stop him this time."

"You'll do it Batman, listen. We're not alone. He's got something else down there. I don't know what it is."

"WHAT A BLABBERMOUTH! Spoiling the surprise" whined Joker who appeared on the TV screen.

"Be quiet" replied the Batman his tone getting rather annoyed.

"Oh. Am I getting to you? Am I? GOOD!"

Gordon made his way down but Batman had stayed with Filly for a few minutes, "I thought I gave you an order," Filly swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to look him straight in the eye, "They never listen." Batman said more to himself than to Filly.

"Secure Harley, then meet me in Arkham West, understand?"

"Yes Batman."

He went down to the structure and Filly tried her hardest to wake up Harley which was rather easy, she told Harley to hush and run. Then there was an almighty roar then a crumbling of a thousand bricks; Harley was gone and Filly ran down, the hole in the wall smashed by Bane had piles of bricks blocking the way through but there was a big enough gap to look through.

Let the show begin.


	7. Good vs Bad

The green light from the venom shone signalling the battle to commence, Bane full of rage and anger roared and Batman stood calm and ready for the villain's first move.

Playing this part of the game in easy mode was incredibly simple and fast, in the middle difficulty it wasn't hugely tougher than 'easy'. The hard difficulty though was another story. Filly had spent so long building up frustration when it came to fighting Bane on 'hard', after about the sixth try she thought the game was just taking the piss. It took fifteen attempts before finally beating him, even though she was alone in her room she felt embarrassed to call herself a gamer.

Before Bane barely took his first step at charging Batman, the Dark Knight had thrown a batarang and it hit Bane in the exact place it did in the game. The man of muscle clutched his face and ran straight into the wall and Batman wasted no time and began to throw punches until Bane regained himself. These moves were repeated once more but once finished hitting Bane, Batman jumped on to Bane's back and knocked off one of his venom chords. Batman moved a steady distance away as Bane punched his fist into the ground and caused the full room shake, Filly almost lost her footing when she felt it she couldn't believe that Batman was still standing.

The dust from the bricks poured down in front of Filly when Bane grabbed a chuck off the wall with her bare hands and threw it at Bman which he easily dodged but when the dust and bits of small flying rubble cleared she could see Joker's thugs climbing down to assist Bane.

It seemed an easy fight before the thugs came down but they were causing big distractions for Batman, as he was busying fighting Bane had charged twice and he got Batman once. As more of Joker's men came into the fight, Bane took his opportunity to pick up the bodies of the unconscious and threw them at Batman and four out of five got him.

The Dark Knight managed to defeat all of the thugs and he was back to fighting Bane but he was acting slower but he got Bane in the same way as before. Filly thought that Bman was lucky, if his opponent hadn't been through suffering and wasn't feeling the fury he wouldn't have let the vigilante get away with simple tactics.

Batman had thrown another batarang at Bane which caught his head but at the same time Bane had thrown another body at Bman which hit him and knocked him to the side.

But instead of getting back to his feet the Dark Knight didn't stand up and Bane was regaining his strength. It suddenly occurred to her and even though the events in the game were happening, the experience she was having was 'real life', if Batman was knocked out there was no going back. If Batman was broken by Bane then the full story would never be told and Filly didn't want to fill in the gaps.

Moving as many bricks away as she could the space became big enough for her to aim and throw the batarang. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched Bane get back on his feet before Batman though he staggered a little Filly took her chance and threw her weapon.

Sweat rolled slowly down the side of her face as her slow motion power decided to make the scene around her more intense; the batarang spun round once, twice, three times then hit Bane in his face. The batarang clattered to the floor and when it did the world returned to its pace and the villain was back on his knees. Filly shouted out in success and suddenly the bricks she had been using for support gave way and her body slipped through and she fell into the fighting pit. Batman had just started to get back up but she knew by the time he registered what happened Bane would be fighting fit. Filly ran towards the man who she had comforted minutes ago, hopped on to his back and took out the last chord and jumped down landing almost gracefully next to Batman.

Smiling triumphantly to herself before the walls and ceiling started to cave in. Bane was shouting as he was engulfed in the debris and Filly felt the hero's arm snake around her waist as he used his grappling gun to pull them up to safety.

Batman was the first to climb out of the hole leading up, he clutched his arm tightly for a moment then reached back down and pulled Filly up, she took a deep breath and coughed a few times to rid of all the dust trapped in her throat. She was glad to back out in the fresh air.

"Where's Quinn?" asked Batman, Filly turned noticed Gordon approaching them. **Where the Hell were you?!**

"Gone. Must have gotten loose while Bane was throwing you around" Gordon replied. From the corner of her eye she saw Batman give her a look and she tried her best not to look guilty.

"We need to get you off the island" Batman turned his attention back to Gordon. Filly felt like she was hardly a part of the game considering just how much she experienced so far, watching and listening Bman and Gordon made her feel as though she was still looking through the TV screen.

"I'm not a rookie. I can handle myself."

Too caught up in her own thoughts she completely forgot that Bane was about to come crashing through the brick wall. The three of them fell backwards at the force of the monster breaking down the wall, Bane cried out and shook his arms around furiously. His eyes landed on Gordon first and all he did was grunt furiously at him. Then he looked at Filly and stopped grunting for several long seconds, that's what it felt like to her, she wasn't sure if she was doing her slow motion power thingy but for a moment it was just them two having a strange stare off. But it ended as Bane saw Batman lying close to her, he became like a raging bull again and picked up Bman and held him high in the air.

"I will break you Batman. Then the 'bruja'!"

Filly and Gordon watched as Batman struggled, "No, Bane. This time, I break you!" and then the car lights flashed; Filly quickly got to her feet and moved Gordon out of the way as Batman flipped off of Bane. It was too late for Bane to try and stop it; the Batmobile hit him with full force and sent him into the depths of the Arkham waters.

The Dark Knight and Gordon looked over the edge but saw no sight of Bane, the three of them walked towards the small dock in silence. So far tonight hadn't really been going her way. She only found out little bits of her powers like the slow motion thingy and the pick-up-memory-from-objects power, not forgetting her 'super speed' and her slight strength. She realized that the hard ground she was walking on turned to a wooden dock; she watched the scene in front of her.

"Jim get back to the main land it's too dangerous here."

"I don't like leaving you here." **Oh come on Gordon you know Batman can look after himself!**

"The radio claims he's put bombs all round Gotham. Gotham will panic you're need there."

Gordon got on to the small boat and nodded at the guard, "Bane called Doctor Young 'bruja', what does it mean?"

Batman turned around and Filly saw her final chance to be a part of the little group, "It's Spanish for witch" she said turning and following Batman with a smile on her face. Up ahead she saw Batman talking to Barbara Gordon, she tried to read his lips but only picked up minor things, once he was finished his attention turned to her and Filly felt like a child meeting their hero again.

For a moment she thought he was going to ask her about how Harley Quinn escaped but he didn't, "What exactly has the Joker got you doing Miss Rogers?" Filly had forgotten that she had that other name.

"Call me Filly Dark Knight," she said with a grin then answered his question, "I've just to 'discover myself', pick a side or something along those lines."

The look he gave her suggested that he had her all figured out, he was sure that she would choose the good guys side. So far she helped him rescue one of the doctors and also helped defeated Bane.

**Ha! The good guys side eh? Well so far you've talked pretty calmly to Harley Quinn and the Joker, and you've suddenly grown a soft spot Bane, oh and not forgetting you let Quinn escape.**

As she thought this a flash of uncertainly went across her eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Batman, "When you've finished here come to the mansion, I'll try and make an easy path for you follow."

 **Follow you!? Oh my God, does that make us sort of partners?!** Inside Filly was internally screaming with joy, it was hard containing her joy but she nodded at his words and stayed still and watched him run in the direction of Deadman's Point, "Wow, I'm a partner!," she whispered loudly to herself, "And I'm not a bat or robin" she finished with a smile. Maybe, even though she only helped him twice he would consider training her.

Making sure that Batman was gone Filly ran up to the visiting centre and noticed that the two thugs working on the Joker door were busying working away. **Wonder why Batman didn't take them out.**

The hard working thugs ignored her as she walked by them, she opened the doors and ahead of her, through the glass the Joker was still there with that TV on his head. Walking slightly further inside the TV screen flashed the Joker's face appeared on it.

"You're very late for your appointment. Very rude," she knew that he hoped that Filly would have been Batman but she was all he could work with for the moment, "Well seeing as you're here now, we might as well get started. How did you find growing up in the asylum? Anything stand out? Or are things a little fuzzy? We'll come back to it later then."

 **Never gave me a chance to answer anyway.** "So do you think I'm doing well so far in your game?" she asked taking a few more steps forward.

"If I had cards with numbers on them I'd give you a five. Bit booorrring if you ask me, so what you punched a few henchmen, and survived Scarecrow, nothing I'd be too proud of, I think you can do A LOT better," he grinned and gave a chuckle that was filled with mockery, "Ooohh, how about Baney Boy? Bet you were shocked to see him weren't you?"

Filly smirked at his attention span, "It was quite the surprise Mr Joker, one wonders what else is hidden up your sleeve."

"I know. Bet your asking a lot of questions hmm."

"Yeah like, what's your favourite fruit juice?"

Joker was about to carry on with his speech until he processed the words Filly had just said. There was a few seconds of silence then the demented clown burst into a fit of choking laughter which lasted for a minute before calmly and simply saying, "Apple" then the screen went blank.

There was a lot more she wanted to say to him but she would save it for next time. And what he said was true, she hadn't really did much to impress the Clown Prince of Crime, then again he probably told her it to get her to get a aggressively action from her or to make her more determined.

So the Batman and the Joker both gave clues to that they both wanted her on their sides.

**Man it's like two brothers fighting over a girl they both like! If you think about it Filly tonight they're both kinda like your mentors, the bad side battling with the good side; the good has two tally's and the bad has three.**

She left the centre and went back to the dock; she sat down for a minute and tried to remember what Batman had to go through before the mansion; first it was the batcave then he'd have to make his way through the catacombs then he'll be back in Arkham North. She figured that she'd have enough time to practice.

She needed to find out to use and control her powers, if they continued being random then she was going to get nowhere. She went back to the docks and watched the waves go back and forth, she looked at them for a few minutes but nothing happened. Closing her eyes, she sat and crossed her legs and breathed in deeply, she tried to push out everything around her so all she could hear where the waves. She listened to them carefully, the little waves kept rocking back and forth so the noise was always frequent; throughout her fully body Filly felt calm so she worked on that emotion and soon the sound of the waves got quieter until there was silence, not then the small wind made a howling sounds. Her eyes opened gradually as she tried to keep control, her eyes focused back on the waves and she noticed that they were moving much slower than last time, she concentrated harder so that the water looked as if someone was controlling it pressing the pause button again and again and again.

Filly smiled with success pleased by the results, the slow motion power was worked by emotion. She made a note to experiment with that power later but now she was dying to work on her memory power.

Thinking back to the Medical Centre, she remembered the buzz that came off the area she touched. Hunting around Arkham West she tried to find a spot where she thought would hold some sort of vivid memory. She stood in front of the penitentiary but she didn't want to go in there, she wanted to go up, she'd do anything for a grappling gun right now.

**Trying jumping.**

She always imagined herself to be a excellent street runner, she saw clips of people doing it on youtube and she knew right away that that would be an aspect to her character. Filly exhaled a long sigh and took a few steps back, she did a small run and jump which got her pretty high up but not wanting to dwell on the thought of falling she quickly got up the rest of the wall and collapsed when she reached the top. Pleased with her effort she cried out 'yes' and hopped back on to her feet.

The buzz of the electrical barrier caught her attention and the green glow of the Riddler trophy inside. But she knew what else was in there, just thinking about it sent a shiver up her spine. She faced the wall then placed her fingertips on the concrete wall but she felt nothing; she then put her left ear to the wall to see if it would make some sort connection.

A similar sensation to the one she felt in the Medical Building buzzed in her skin but it showed her nothing, she thought about the history of Arkham, all the different stories of the building and the characters, the electrical current was getting stronger. She thought about Victor and had a clear picture in her mind and it was like the buildings were going through archives, in moments a scene played in her mind.

Things were fuzzy she couldn't see anything but she could hear and feel. Filly came to the conclusion that she couldn't see anything because she wasn't in the room but a sense of panic and courage filled her, the guards felt this when they heard the news that the Joker had yet again escape. Those emotions were then replaced with a smothering sense of fear. Filly heard screams, pleas and sick laughter, and she felt like someone was choking her, degrading her and also…like she was being helped. There was silence but occasionally there would be a gasp of pain and a stinging impression in certain parts of her body; Victors tally's.

The vision then ended and the electrical current stopped. Like before she took a breath as the power was overwhelming. At least she knew now that the memory power was worked by knowledge.

A single tear rolled down her face as she took a glance at the barrier, "I'll make him pay." She dropped down to the ground and ran towards Arkham East, there was so much she wanted to do now; find a record of herself, look for Riddler puzzles and find the serial killer to practice punches.

Evil was winning.


	8. Time to be Brave

Batman doesn't kill, and though the path the Dark Knight glides down is the right Filly couldn't let the thought of punching Victor Zsasz until she left a perfect hole in his chest out of her mind, it gave her pang of delight. It was as if the asylum and its inmates were finally having a chaotic effect on her. Jumping over the obstacles in her way she made it to the doors of the mansion not caring if she was heading into the deepest depths of danger in her own mind she was the most dangerous thing running around the mansion.

Batman had taken care of the two snarky thugs at the front entrance but he hadn't managed to unblock the door so she went up towards the vents and crawled into the next room, jumped down from the high platform and looked around the area she was in.

Filly looked at the wounded thugs lying around her, some were clutching their heads or lying perfectly still but their bodies in strange contorted positions; a couple of the henchmen began to stir and she had no time to deal with these poor rank scum. Dashing towards the door that lead to the library she went inside and collected her composure, instead of going down Batman's path she decided that she'd get Young's notes, Victor would have to wait.

She approached the library doors and opened it just as dramatically as Batman would and the thugs still didn't notice. They all made their complaints about the task Joker had put them on, but she also noticed how some of them just began to rip out as many pages as they could for pleasure and that really left a sting in her.

She could either fight them all or climb up and cause a great mighty destruction. "Hey! What you doin' here?!" shouted one of the thugs. **Busted.**

Filly gave him a little smirk and ran forward with her fists up about to punch him. But instead she jumped and her feet caught the henchmen's face and he fell backwards and Filly's hands grabbed on to the railing and she pulled herself up.

"That's right girlie run!" they heckled her from below as she made her way to the top, she managed to rip off the vents and get to the chandelier. With a wicked grin she grasped a batarang in her hand, took aim and threw it. Using her power she watched the scene in slow motion over the barrier, the seconds of the beautiful chandelier falling, the cries of the goons who wouldn't escape the collision, the singing of the broken glass and the horrid thud of the unconscious criminals. The sight and sounds gave Filly a sick, pleasurable satisfaction. Laughing she jumped down still using her power and sort of floated gently to the ground and landed in front of the two hostages.

"Filly? Untie us, now before the bomb goes off!" screamed the guard. Filly gave no indication that she heard the guard but she approached the large gift box, waited three seconds then the large boxing glove leaped off but it missed her.

"WHAT?! NO! You spoiled Batman's birthday present," cried out the Joker, "I can't give him another exploding cream pie like last year!" he finished with a dark, giggling chuckle. **Not your best material Joker.**

**Three tallies to the good side I suppose.**

She ignored the two hostages and hunted for the book that Young hid the formula which did take long. Smiling she made her way to the exit but a hand grabbed her arm forcefully which she didn't like. The guard looked completely confused and scared behind his tough exterior, he asked what was going on and she kept it brief, "Stay here, nowhere in the asylum is safe but you stand a better chance just staying put."

"What's that you've got there Horsey? No! Not the formula! What am I going to do? Who can help me now?" there was a small pause then he started again, "What's that? How about out old friend Zsasz. Hmm I did bump into him on the way back from the Gardens, where no doubt he was acting out some twisted fantasy. Maybe he could get her talking. Hehe I think he probably can! Great plan Filly!"

Leaving the library behind her she ran straight for the warden's office, there were no more distractions save a couple of thugs which she dealt with effortlessly. Then something wet dropped on to her hand. She made the mistake of looking up and several more drops landed on her face. She wiped her eyes and cursed herself for rushing; she only just remembered that once you come out of the library you were back under Scarecrow's spell.

**Well I'm not going to run this time. Bring it.**

The nightmare began with blood dripping down the asylums old walls, there were cries and screams from within the woodwork, all the dark history absorbed, so many tortured memories never able to find peace. From up head the goons who were knocked out before were being smothered in blood, they groaned and slowly got themselves on to their feet. It wasn't a terrifying sight but her stomach almost couldn't handle it. The blood demons came running towards her, each footstep blood flew off them making the goons look more like zombies.

A war like cry escaped Filly's lips and she readied herself for the first attack. Zombie number one lunged himself at her trying to grab on to her clothing but he hadn't sent himself far enough and just missed snagging on to her clothing. She laughed at his failure, she enjoyed watching the scum make fools out of themselves. She kicked the fallen bloody goon hard in his shoulder with such force she managed to pop it out of its socket. The next goon took a large swing aiming for her head but Filly saw it coming and casually stepped aside and watched him twirl around confused and all she did was trip him over and stomp on his leg until she heard a crack. The final two goons were just as easy to get rid of; a brutal to the stomach so that the internal organs are heavily damaged and a punch to the spine making sure that you're in a wheelchair for a very long time.

"Is that all your nightmare can throw at me!" she shouted, her voice echoing was her only answer. The seconds ticked by and nothing was happening, she smirked but a spider crawling sensation went through her body knowing that something was going to happen. And the terror did happen. The doors at the other end of the hall opened with a loud crash and coming towards her was a river tornado of blood.

"Well that's fantastic" as the floods of Hell rushed towards her she ran in the opposite direction her speed was incredible but the river matched her and nipped at her heels many times. The corridors ran on and on, never ending, no doors or turning left or right. Her stamina couldn't last much longer and as her legs carried on she tried to think of a way out of Scarecrow's grasp. In Batman's Scarecrow challenges he worked his ways through obstacles but had to hide from Scarecrow's vision, and at the end Batman would use the Bat Signal to defeat him. Well hiding would be fairly easy but Filly was pretty sure she wouldn't have the Bat Signal to help her out.

The corridor was coming to an end at last but she knew that there would be no door and she'd be slammed into the wall by the blood and the impact would likely break her bones. But she had an idea. A silly idea but there was no other option. She could hear a cackle from behind her, laughing at her as if she was already defeated. Only a few more feet from the wall Filly kicked her legs up and began to run up the wall. Gravity would be her hiding place. The blood bashed into the wall as she began to run back along the huge ceiling, she tried not to look down too much. Running as fast as she could she ended up back in the main hall, it looked as though nothing had happened but she was sure that the nightmare was still raging on. Hiding back up at the platform above the door she lay flat on her stomach and was silent.

It seemed as if hours went by until someone showed up, and to Filly's disappointment it wasn't Scarecrow. Batman came running in all his glory and turned to go into the library looking for Young's notes; she went into her pocket and grabbed hold of the formula and studied it. She wasn't any good at chemistry and no idea what it meant only that it should be branded with a stamp saying BAD!

The sound of a door opening caught her attention and saw Batman walking in the direction of the warden's office but it was time for him to face his second nightmare.

Filly jumped down from the platform, she followed and watched Batman go through his hallucination, she wondered if he really knew what was going on or if he ignored all the voices until the gunshot. Just thinking about it made the back of her neck stiff and soon enough there was a flash followed by a the loudest bang she had ever heard, then Bruce was on his knees.

Her heart felt as if it had been stabbed with an icy spear. In that moment all she wanted to do was wrap her arm around his shoulders and comfort him. She didn't see him as a young boy, only a man whom all his life needed more than a butler and few friends to get him through the days. He needed a family, sure he has his Bat family Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake but he's lost so many. Bruce needed a normal family.

The Dark Knight would never cry, she glanced at his face and saw the pain of the memories but he got back to his feet then he went through the door to defeat Scarecrow.

When the door closed Filly stayed behind and the nightmare feeling left with the dark hero. The atmosphere changed and returned to its usual state. All her feelings of anger also returned; she was mad that her second hallucination wasn't are frightening as the first, she wanted a challenge and she never really got one. **Just wait until I get my hands on you Scarecrow.**

Sitting quietly waiting, the Dark Knight ended up coming through the door exactly seven minutes later and doing manoeuvres and throwing things at nothing. It was cringe worthy watching him but she knew what he was going through; she was just used to seeing it on a screen.

Batman went all the way up into the bell tower and any second now the mansion bell would crash down and cause a little destruction. Filly found a safe place, curled herself into a ball, closed her eyes and waited for the impact. The whole building shook as it bashed into one side then into the other and finally landed, the echo of the bell was almost deafening.

Filly heard the swoop of Batman landing to the ground, she got out of her safe place and ran up to him, and "Are you alright?" she asked.

There was a hint of a smile, "Of course. Are you?" Filly nodded, "I found your prints on a book in the library, the book held Doctor Young's notes, tell me you have them."

"No, I destroyed them."

"Oh there you are. I've been waiting for you, listening to Zsasz make the good Doctor scream while you played around in Scarecrow's world. How was it this time? Learn anything about yourself? Oh, tell me. Pull up a seat. Talk to me! I'm all ears." Batman went up to the class cabinet and scanned in Catwoman's gear as he listened to the Joker, she made a mental note to try and speak to the Riddler at some point, she didn't want to forget about him, "Actually, that reminds me I could of sworn I heard Zsasz cutting her ears off. Certainly sounded like it."

Filly clenched her teeth together, Batman returned to her side and went straight to the door and she followed behind him; her eyes got her first glimpse of the serial killer and her blood boiled.

"Stay where you are Batman and little girlie! Listen to me carefully," Young was screaming out, "Come any closer and I'll paint the room crimson with her blood."

Carefully crouching beside Batman she watched and admired how calmly Batman assessed the situation, he pulled out his batarang, a couple of moments passed and before Zsasz slit the Doctors throat he threw his weapon and no surprise it hit the killer and knock him out.

Batman went into the Warden's office main area, Young began pounding on the killer's chest screaming at him. Filly scanned the room for a weapon, there was glass on the floor, the batarang had bashed a screen monitor once it took out Zsasz.

"We saw Bane," said Batman helping Doctor Young up, they began walking over to the safe and Filly saw her chance. Picking up a large glass shard she crouched over Zsasz picked him up by the neck and held the glass under his chin.

Doctor Young gasped as she saw Filly and Batman turned round, he took a few steps forward but Filly dug the glass into the monsters skin, not drawing blood but close to it. Batman stopped and stayed silent, Filly looked up at him.

"How do you do it Batman? How can you let them live?" he didn't reply, she didn't really believe he was going to answer her, "You don't know do you, I mean, you know killing is wrong but sometimes you have to wonder what life would be like if they were gone...I bet much happier."

She held the glass shard against tightly that her own blood started to run but one wrong little move and the glass would cut deep through the skin and the demon would bleed to death.

"If you kill him you're no worse than him," Batman simply said, "And I know that you aren't a killer. You saved me from Bane tonight, put down the glass Filly."

"You know I let Harley Quinn escape."

"She would have got free if you had tied her up anyway, she has a habit of doing that. Don't let that make you think you're a bad person, I've seen plenty of bad people and trust me, you're not one of them, you are one of the bravest."

Hearing something like that from Batman was just unreal. She imagined her reaction if she was only a gamer girl instead of a character. But she felt like a fool. Filly threw the glass shard to the side and groaned, avoiding eye contact with Batman she got back to her feet and turned away from the Doctor and the Dark Knight and shed a tear or two in embarrassment. Her heart battered against her ribcage as if it were a bull crashing into a red target, now that she felt calmer the realization began to settle in. If Batman didn't stop her, she would have did it. **Even though this might be a game right now it's very real, you would be a killer in two worlds. What was I thinking?!**

Batman and Young carried on their conversation from before as Filly tried to get over what she almost done completely forgetting in the next few seconds there was going to be an explosion and the Doctor was going to die. The blast took both of them out but Filly was far enough away from it that she wasn't hurt.

Then a thought occurred to her. There was a chance she could save Young. Filly may not have liked her but too many had died already tonight. Quickly rushing over to Doctor Young she dragged her away from the destroyed safe and gave her mouth to mouth. She thumped her heart four times, gave her air, thumped again and the doctor left out a quiet gasp and her eyes shot open like a camera shutter. Sensing Harley Quinn getting closer Filly pushed the doctor down on the ground and tried to keep her still.

"Young," Filly said through clenched teeth, "Play dead."

The scared Doctor nodded frantically and did what she was told, Filly prayed the Joker wasn't watching at that moment, she rushed up into the small library above the office and waited until Harley and her few goons passed with the Warden. The next few moments passed rather quickly, Harley wasn't long in the other area, she was already dragging the Warden back while Batman got back to his feet and took out the thugs.

A few minutes later once Batman had stopped talking to Oracle, he left the Warden's office. She was sure that if Batman had used his detective mode he'd of realized that Young was still alive and she was hiding up there. But he left quickly and she returned to Young, "You can get up now."

Young slowly crawled up from the floor using the wall as support. The Doctor looked terrified but it was Filly's own fault, the scared woman had witnessed her almost killing a man and was almost blown to pieces. But Filly was in no mood to be nice, she kept to the point of what she was going to say.

"I should give you over to Bane, he isn't too pleased with you." Young stared at the floor, Filly wondered if she even felt bad for him.

"You'll sneak off this island, go back home and pack your things, cut your hair and dye it, change your name and get far away from Gotham. If I ever sense you coming close to the City or the asylum, I promise you I won't be this kind."

"Where…is Bane?" she asked her voice shaking.

"Swimming in the Arkham waters still I think; he and Batman had a bit of a tumble. Now leave, sneak out of here and find a boat, I don't care if you even have to paddle, the asylum is going to kill you, Joker, Bane and Poison Ivy have you in their bad books."

"Poison Ivy wants me dead?" the doctor's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Well not at the moment but in an hours' time she'll be told what you did to her baby plants. You destroyed her plants and hurt them with your venom projects, she ain't gonna be too pleased. Now enough chatter, goodbye Doctor Young. I'd wait in here for about ten minutes then go, the asylum is going to be hit badly and you've suffered enough for one night."

And with that Filly walked away leaving Young behind, she hoped that the Doctor knew just how luck she was.

The Joker suddenly began talking through the intercoms, "There you are Filly! I was beginning to wonder where you went. Left the Batman's side? Going on your own path again. I don't think you should check the dead doctor's office…oh wait a minute that would be an excellent place to start!"

**Thanks Joker…what sort of secrets did she have about me.**

Clearly the Joker knew something, he imagined him being in her office, the Doctor would leave for a moment but he'd get a good chance to snoop about. Getting there was no problem, but she didn't really enjoy going through vents all the time.

Dropping down into the office the first thing she did was go on to the computer, a lot of folders and files were password protected, she managed to guess a few but others were more difficult and she couldn't get through. Young had links to almost all the villains so she figured that there must be something about her mentioned.

Filly was about to begin searching her name but something completely different caught her eye, it was a relatively old newspaper with coffee stains on most of its pages sitting in an open drawer, but the front page was mostly filled with only three words ' **WHO IS GLITCH?** "

Glitch. She had never heard of this Batman character before, she turned to page three and read the article on this mystery friend or foe.


	9. Identity

The paper reported that Gotham was seeing another cold winter, other crime stories were kept small and tried not to bring too much attention. But the story on this " **Glitch** " was huge; Filly figured that crime bosses made sure that it was reported to advertise a hit on them. The article went on about the first recorded sighting:

~ **Glitch was seen on a bus heading out of Gotham, it's believed a man had got on with a gun and began threatening the passengers. Glitch attacked the man, it's said that she was laughing as they fought the gunman. Next thing the accused takes a lipstick and writes on the man's face 'To Gordan, love Glitch xxx' and suddenly sparks appear and the gunman and Glitch disappear. Moments later the gunman is at the doorstep of the police station. As soon as the story broke out calls were made to Arkham Asylum to see if any patients were missing but nothing came up.** ~

Filly guessed that checking the Asylum first was understandable, someone who could teleport in sparks ticked all the boxes of an asylum freak. She continued to read:

~ **Some might say that this event shows a 'hero' taking their first steps into helping the city, or taking their steps into an early grave. These sorts of events always split the opinion of the cities people. Esther Brown said,**

**"I think it's a good thing to see citizens stand up against these foes, it puts confidence in us."**

**But Jackson Cain says,"People need to stop taking the law into their own hands, they might think they are doing good but sooner or later they'll catch up with you, and you'll only have yourself to blame when they get a knife in the back."**

**When asked about the event we asked the commissioner his thoughts, he kept it short and brief "The incident isn't anything new", and when Lieutenant Gordon was asked he simply said, "Someone is trying to make a joke out of something that isn't very funny."**

**A small investigation is now underway, police have said that they are sure Glitch is a young female, guessing late teens to early twenties, homeless but chances are, Gotham hasn't seen the last of Glitch.** ~

And the newspaper was right, clipped neatly and securely were more photos, headlines and articles. Filly would of loved to read them all but her curiosity was begging to go and investigate about herself. It didn't take long until she found a series of tape players. On each of the sides it said 'Riddler One', 'Riddler Two' and so forth, but she came across one with no label and hoped that this could be her's. Sitting on Young's chair, she placed her feet up and played the first few seconds.

"This is Doctor Young, recording notes on Patient Emily Rogers. Since Riddler has been moved out of my care I've had time to look into other patients."

She must of recorded these just after Doctor Laird's incident, Filly admitted she was quick and committed.

"Emily's case I find to be extremely intriguing. She's had a lot of Doctors over the years and all of their notes when compared to one and another just don't seem to make a lot of sense. Her interview with Doctor Laird is the recent of strange notes; he said that she was found in the grounds of Arkham when she was four which is just utter nonsense. My only logical explanation is that the Scarecrow got his evil gas on him but it didn't affect Emily."

Thinking back to her small interview earlier, Filly remembered the Doctor mentioning that but she didn't think it was majorly important.

"I just can't believe how these nonsense notes haven't been brought to anyone's attention before. The only reason I can come up with is...that these Doctors were under some sort of chemical influence or...it's seriously frustrating. There are so many rumors about her it's hard to keep up with it all."

Rumours? That was something to ask the Joker or one of the other Doctors if she ever bumped into one again.

"The one I believe the most is a note from Doctor Gretchen, she writes that Emily was left at the steps of Arkham aged 8 months. The head doctor at the time refused to call the police, he said that the child held some sort of purpose...he somehow managed to win the case to keep her here but the story was kept from going to Gotham and till this day her story hasn't been made public. I find it extremely hard to accept that no one has tried to get information of her out there. My only thoughts are that people in particular high places are blocking it or one of the patients in here is doing, like Harvey Dent as such. He seems to be a strange father figure to her even though encounters with the super criminals were forbidden..."

 **What the Hell?** There was no way she'd be able to get an explanation from him but she made a mental note to check out his cell for later!

"After that the stories get weird. Not much is written about her childhood here, nothing really is documented until she reaches the age of ten on the 19th of June but funnily enough Bruce Wayne gives a large amount of money to the asylum every year on that date."

That got her attention. Bruce already donated money to the asylum but why more on that day? How many years has Batman kept a close eye on Arkham? She imagined that in a circumstance like hers, Bruce Wayne would have somehow discovered the secret and come for her in all his bat glory and take her away; then again it could be nothing.

"Speaking about money, another large donation has been given by someone who wishes to remain anonymous...I think it might be Jack White, trying to get back under my skin again...anyway, it's clear that throughout her years here she hasn't had much interaction with patients, I think putting her into a few group therapy sessions might bring her out of a shell..." Young sighed, "I think...what gets to me the most is...she's not crazy, so why does she want to be here? Why doesn't she want a normal life?"

The tape stopped and a wave of guilt rushed through her blood. Young may of had a bad side but listening to the tape it looked like the doctor had a soft spot for her, and Filly scared the crap out of her. Rubbing her hands on her face, she made a walrus like sound and yawned; she was tired and would give anything for a cup of tea or something to keep her energy up. Trying out the computer she couldn't get anymore information out of it but in the back of her mind she felt like there was something right in front of her. Before she left Filly got a good look at the black mask hanging on the wall.

Black Mask, a character she had been growing fond of recently, from all the comic's and graphic novels she had read he had easily become her favourite out of all the criminal mob bosses. Roman Sionis, hated his parents and killed them, it was pretty obvious, he had a obsession with masks, hates Bruce Wayne and the Batman, **Nothing new there** , and known for always carrying two hand guns. When the masked burned into his face it started his descent into madness, what he did to his girlfriend Circe and to Catwoman's sister, but Filly figured that that hadn't happened in this world. Filly began snooping about again but a series of small banging noises caught her attention from outside.

Making her way out of the office she made her way towards the West Wing Corridor door, the noise sounded like it was coming from out there she stopped in her tracks as her eye lands on a toe, there is a tag wrapped around it. She swallowed a lump that caught in her throat and approached the body slowly, her hand reached out, she pulled out the tray and saw the rest of him covered. Ready to pull off the sheet to see his face a large bang erupted; spinning around she witnessed the sinks get swamped by dirty water, muck and horrid creatures were swimming as it overflowed.

"Eww," she walked over to the sinks and underneath pulled the drains barriers a part and hoped that most of the water would flow into it and wouldn't create such a mess. Rubbing the muck from her hands of her jeans, she straighten up and turned around and was confronted with greatness.

Ra's al Ghul towered over her, he stood at 6ft and she may have been tall but next to the Demon Head she looked like a terrified little girl. A bead of sweat rolled down her face as his green ones bore into her own, panicking and not knowing her best options she slowly slid on to one knee, bowed her head and closed her eyes. There was nothing but silence for the next few moments but she could feel him smirking at her. Filly chanced a look, taking him in she noticed that he had used the cloth that was covering him as a towel and wrapped it around his hips.

 **Oh my God he's naked underneath that** , was the only thing she could think of.

"Rise little one," he commanded, Filly instantly obeyed but she couldn't make eye contact with him, "What is your name?"

"My name is Emily Rogers sir, but I'm known as Filly around here" she replied.

"And what is 'around here'" he asked. Ra's al Ghul studied the girl in front of him, she was a funny little thing. He sensed that she was no threat to him but she had a lot of strength within her, he looked further and could feel a lot of locked memories and powers that weren't yet open to her.

"This is Arkham Asylum sir."

He made a distasteful look and stroked the stubble on his face, "Young lady do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you are Ra's al Ghul. The Demon Head, the leader of the League of Shadows."

This took him by surprise. It had been a while since the Demon Head had been given this sort of respect from anyone outside of the league, he liked this Emily, whatever it was that was drawing him to her he wasn't sure if it was good or bad. Nether the less he would keep an eye on the girl, "What is going on here child?"

"The Joker...has control of the asylum...he's putting Batman to the test...and me."

Ra's raised an eyebrow, "And how are you coping?"

"Well I'm...I'm not dead yet." This wasn't exactly how she pictured her first conversation with the Demon Head to go but she kept silent and only spoke when he asked a question, he liked that, manners didn't come easy to the young nowadays.

He decided to take a risk on the child, "Young lady I have an offer for you, that is if you survive the night here. How would you like to train with the League of Shadows? I shall give you plenty of time to think it over, a year or so from now I will meet with you again and you must give me your decision."

**Holy shit!**

Filly was speechless, her mouth was agape as she processed what he had just said, he chuckled at her and she quickly straightened herself out and tried not to embarrass herself further. **  
**

"I'll consider it sir."

"Good. I hope you'll make the right choice Filly my dear," he turned around and began walking away, "I could use someone like you, I could make you one of the world's greatest assassins. Good luck" And with that he disappeared under a rising cloud of smoke and she was left alone in the quiet room. Her heart beat had been hammering against her rib cage the entire time he looked and talked to her, he had offered her something huge, what had he seen in her that made him offer such an amazing proposal.

Recovering from her encounter with Ra's al Ghul, she went to the West Wing Corridor to continue her search for files on her. She started at the right side, beyond the desk were filing cabinets marked from A to Z, the place was a mess due to the goons ransacking the place but just her luck 'F' was still in its place. Her fingers ran past so many files, there were a bunch of Fiona's, Francesca's and Freya's but no Filly. Then it clicked. They wouldn't go by her nickname; checking 'E' she found a small folder with her name on it, slapping it on the desk she clicked through and skimmed many pages. What she had found just turned out to be records on medication she had been given over the years, nothing really screamed out at her, mostly it was pills like paracetamol. She rushed over to the other side and began digging for clues but nothing helpful turned up. Returning out into the corridor she head towards the door to, it was clear to her that the mansion wasn't going to give her what she wanted just yet. But the dreaded feeling of being watched climbed up her spine.

A man stood behind her, not just any man, the killer with hundreds of tally marks cut into his skin. Victor Zsasz had recovered from his fall down earlier, he stood only twelve paces behind her, he stood straight to begin with but once he saw his prey he hunched slightly into some sort of stalking position.

He looked terrifying now, if he had known what Filly was going to do to him before she doubted that he would just stand there looking somehow mesmerized.

"I've been told I'm not allowed to play with you but...your flesh is just calllllling out to me. The mark can't wait!"

It would of been so easy to just run through the door and wait for him at the other side, she could of stood with her fists up and once he came through she could of punched him into next Tuesday! But no, this was a serial killer, possible rapist to, he scared the living daylights out of her. She didn't read much about Zsasz because all the stories about him made her squirm, all she did know was that his parents died, he got all the money but he blew it all then started to kill people, mostly females.

Filly slowly turned towards him, very step was taken in caution. Her hands were shaking and her breathing unsteady, whatever courage she found find got her facing the killer. "Victor...put down the...knife." **  
**

He laughed and took a couple of predator steps towards her then stopped, he squinted his eyes together and took a good look at her, "Wait...I...I know you from...yes...YES! IT'S YOU! I never forget a mark that gets awayyyyy." He roared and bounded towards her. In a panic she shut her eyes tight and held out her hands willing her power to work, praying that he would move into slow motion. And after a few ticking seconds of nothing she opened one eye and saw Victor in midair running. Moving out of the way she approached him and stared in wonder.

How long was he going to stay like that? Feeling more confident she poked him in the side but he was still in the same position but moving very very slowly. Feeling pleased with her work she laughed. But her fun was over before it could even begin. He stopped going in slow motion and was back to his normal self running towards the door but he skidded to a halt when he realized she wasn't by the door. **I gotta train my powers more.**

Victorcried out, he didn't like being cheated out of an easy kill. Turning round he came at her again like a charging rhino, knife out stretched Filly manged to move out of the way at his first attack but wasn't so lucky the second time.

He managed to make a cut about the size of a screw on the right side of her neck, even though it didn't look like much the pain was terrible, to a thug or Batman this sort of cut would be nothing, but Filly had never been cut like this before, and oh it was the worst pain she'd ever felt. She cried out and her hand instantly went to clutch the wound.

"Yes! Yes scream! SCREEEEEEAM!" jumping at her, Victor got her off her feet and on the floor. His hands instinctively wrapped around her throat and her hands grabbed on to his arms. Being strangled was not how she wanted to go but he was so determined, Filly began to struggle less and as she did this she got a look into his eyes and saw the demons laughing behind them, he looked as if he had waited years for this moment.

In the background she could hear the Joker through the intercoms commanding Zsasz to stop but there no stopping a killer like him from doing his 'duty'. Her Arkham asylum experience wasn't going to end like this! Deciding to take a cheap shot her knee bang hard against his groin area, it took him by surprise and he instantly got off of her to deal with his pain. Filly got up quickly while Zsasz stayed on his hands and knees trying to cope with the soaring pain going through him; with a warrior like cry she kicked hard into his side and he flew backwards and hit the wall, he groaned loudly but she wasn't done. Climbing on top of him she started giving him a series of punches to the face. One punch...two, three, four...five,six, seven, eight punches, then he wasn't moving. She made sure he was alive then dragged his body into one of the offices. Her fingers touched the wall as she absorbed the memories of the room, she discovered a small hidden panel on the outside, pressed in the right code and the gate started to come down. There was no way he was getting out of there.

"Clever girl Miss Horesy, hehe, if you're ever feeling like having a chat, you know where to find me" the Joker's voice sounded.

**I better see what he wants.**

Before leaving she found a broken mirror shard and inspected the cut Zsasz had given her. She watched in amazement as the skin patched itself together and the blood absorbed through her flesh and in a few moments the wound had healed, there was no scar, no redness, it was if she had never been harmed. Healing powers was something she was going to be entirely grateful for, she imagined how it would feel recovering from a gunshot wound but then quickly put it to the back of her mind. Even though she could heal so well it didn't meant she was indestructible.

Finally getting out of the mansion, she took a breath of air and coughed out most of the dust she collection inside. Running in the direction of the visitor center she stopped in her tracks. The ground started to shake, there horrible cannibalistic noises coming close but she didn't have the time to hid, she couldn't use her powers as they weren't going to be strong enough right now.

And then she saw what she as about to face.

A TITAN monster walked past and from the corner of it's eye it spotted her. She must of looked like a tasty meal to her but then she realized who this monster had been before...fucking Freddie the cannibal.

"Here's one I made earlier!" screamed the Joker. **But he couldn't have fixed the formula by now could he? Oh shit!**

Freddie came towards her but Filly flipped over him and he bashed his face into the mansion doors. "Have fun!" the Joker ended it with a laugh and she was left alone with the TITAN cannibal.


	10. Forming Friendships...

This was madness. In the game the TITAN creature's showed no personality, they were nothing but angry monsters with an appetite for destruction. But with Freddie, Filly swore that she heard him manically laughing at her, even the animalistic roars and screeches were filled with blood thirsty intent. Like a bull in a cartoon show it ran its right foot along the worn rocks and dust and charged.

She'd give anything to have a few more batarangs in her pocket but she was going to have to come up with her own way to take down her TITAN. Mindless monsters were easy to trick into cages and traps but one swipe of its hand could be game over for Filly. TITAN Freddie came at her again but she easily dodged him but his focus wasn't lost for long, he got ready to take another run.

Looking frantically around her she hunted for something to throw at him but he was wasting no time and rushed towards her. In a panic she huddled herself into a ball and waited for the impact. The monster got easily confused and tripped over Filly and fell with an almighty thud on the ground. She silently screamed in triumph but she knew that he wouldn't be down for long; from the statue she managed to pull out a brick just as it was getting back to its feet.

Shaking its head in a rage of annonyance Filly squinted her eyes together and tried to get some sort of a aim and threw the brick, it hit the side of the monsters head and oh it didn't like that. TITAN Freddie stopped it's grunting fury and stared straight at her confused, the little creature had attacked him and it hurt his hurricane mad mind as he tried to figure out why she wasn't submitting to her pending doom.

"Bring it on you ugly fuck."

Throwing another brick at the monster, the time around her slowed down the TITAN did what it usually did in the game, it roared and clutched his face, it banged into the statute and she took her moment to strike him. Punch after punch she put all her strength into wounding her opponent but her power soon cracked under the TITAN monster's strong attack. Jumping out of the way at every moment she tried the same technique three more times but Freddie showed no sign of weakness.

It was clear that no matter what she did to the creature he wasn't going to be defeated any time soon. She dashed towards the edge of the cliff and quickly spun round to see what the monster was doing; it was running towards her fully determined to devour her. Filly bent down slightly preparing herself to jump over the TITAN, when he was close enough she scattered dust into the air to blind him, she jumped at the last second and landed back onto the ground safety. In the small dust storm she peered into it and saw TITAN Freddie twisting and turning, he was so close to the edge one wrong step and he'd fall into the sea. The fight had to end, Filly took her turn to charge, no punch would knock him over, she collided with the monster and he toppled over the side, her feet remained on the edge and she couldn't help but cry out in success but it was short lived.

The TITAN monster managed to reach out and grab hold of her arm, he smashed his hand down on to the ground bringing Filly down and dragging her half off the cliff edge. Trapped in the painful grip she had no choice but to fall into the crashing waters below.

Her arms thrashed about willing her power to make the experience somehow better, she managed to see Batman who was in the distance running towards her, but the colossal monster's weight was just too much. Her fingertips slid off the edge just as Batman's black gloved hand reached out but the fall was fast, though her vision was failing she noticed that the Dark Knight had tried grabbing her with his batclaw but before it could get close she began drowning.

The Arkham sea was a lot kinder to her as the waves carried her to the surface but for TITAN Freddie the waters thrashed and pulled him down. Once able to take a breath of the cold ocean air Filly began to swim around the island hoping that there would be a cave or something to pull herself up on to a ledge. Swimming around to the other side of Arkham East there was a small stony shore that she swam over to and rested on. The sharp rock edges pierced into her clothing and ripped some of the material getting through to her flesh and slitting her skin. The pain was the last thing on her mind though, although TITAN Freddie might have fallen further into the water she wasn't waiting around to see if he swam up to the surface.

Painfully crawling further up she placed her back against the jagged cliff, she spat a couple of times hoping to get most of the sea water taste out her mouth. Her eyes shut for a few moments and found peace as a light spray of water landed on her face. But the peace was short lived.

**Do TITAN's ever give the fuck up?!**

Freddie had made it, he looked worn out and it seemed the rocks had done worse to him. Filly didn't know how good his eyesight was but she wasn't too far away from him. Her plan was to keep quiet and stay still even if she wanted to move her legs were numb from the countless scars she got from the rocks, she prayed that her healing power would kick in.

Her plan seemed to be going well but luck in Arkham never lasted. The TITAN sniffed the air like a hungry wolf, it caught the scent of her blood and it's head snapped in her direction. Busted. It suddenly got back all its energy and approached her slowly knowing that Filly couldn't move it decided that it was going to take it's time and savour the moment.

Releasing a fearful sigh, she shut her eyes as tightly as she could waiting for the monsters jaws to wrap around her leg but there was no impact of jagged shark like teeth. Cautiously Filly opened one eye to see what was going on; her mouth widened in shock at the sight before her. TITAN Freddie and Bane were battling in all their venom glory.

In and out of the waves they fought, it was hard to tell who was winning the battle and who was bigger. She saw Freddie give Bane a hard punch to the side of the face which momentarily made Bane stumble but it gave Freddie time to stalk Filly. The strength had returned to her legs so she scuttled back quickly and kicked out her legs when Freddie got close enough. The sole of her shoes bashed his head a couple of times before he was dragged back to the dark Arkham sea.

The scene before her reminded her of a TV show she had watched long ago called "Prehistoric Park"; in the first episode two T-Rex dinosaurs were having a battle over food and the way Freddie and Bane were fighting made her think of it, two God-like people wrestling to the death and she knew that Freddie didn't have a chance in Hell but he'd leave some horrible marks.

And then there was silence. The fight was over before it had even properly begun. Bane lay on the smooth rocks with his arms stretched out and took huge gasps of breath, it was strange to see this God like man like this he always seemed unstoppable never one for having to rest. Climbing over the large stones she reached his side and placed her hand on the side of his face and stroked his cheek gently as she did before in the chamber. Bane's eyes wandered over to her concerned face, he managed to bring up his large hand and place it behind her head then he started to carefully stroke her hair.

"I remember you."

Those three little words sounded so meaningful when spoken by Bane. In Filly's mind she thought he meant from before in the experimental chamber but deep down in her heart Banes words tugged a chord and it set her blood on fire.

"Are you alright mi querido?"

She nodded and glanced at the beaten body of TITAN Freddie, "Is he...dead?"

Bane whispered out a 'yes' then pulled himself onto his knees. Filly stood and didn't utter a word which just made the ordeal awkward. Being one of Batman's rouges she never expected that one of them would ever save her, she had a feeling that he'd ask her to keep this event silent which she could understand. Saving someone's life wouldn't exactly look great on a criminals résumé. Then without warning the venom intoxicated man flashes up with ferocious energy and went towards to the side of the cliff and got ready to climb up.

"I must kill the Doctor!"

**Oh crap!**

"Bane wait!" she cried after him. Bane stopped and looked at her, there was evil intent building in his eyes and it gave her a chill, though it might of just been the fact that she was soaking wet. Filly calmed down her fears as best as she could, "Please, wait", muttering under his breath he stood in front of her and crossed his huge arms, "Doctor Young is dead Bane. The Joker killed her."

For a moment it looked like he was about to accuse her lying and she had no idea what she'd have to say or do to make him believe the lie. Fortunately the huge man gave a sigh and put his arms to the side, "I'm sorry I scared you" he spoke quietly, his accent was gentle and soothing showing that he meant what he said.

"It's alright Bane, I'm getting use to the feeling. The Batmobile didn't hurt you too much did it?" Filly asked as she examined his torn outfit.

He gave a low chuckle, "I was hit by a car pequeño. Yes it hurt."

 **You're an idiot Filly...oh call me something else in Spanish Bane!** Growing red she turned towards the dead TITAN; being reminded of Doctor Young worried her and if Bane decided to return to the asylum to find her body only to discover she wasn't there Filly would need to make sure she had safety reached Gotham.

Approaching the dead TITAN she made it look as if she was studying Freddie (though she did notice the bones in his neck sticking out) but there were little waves crashing into him so she reached out and brushed the water with her fingertips and hunted through its memories of tonight.

Images of Bane and the Batmobile sinking flashed first in her mind, then quick pictures of Freddie and herself and then she saw a boat. Holding on to this particular memory she looked closer; the boat was small and wooden, it was in good condition and could hold at least five people but there was only one person inside it who was rowing for their life. They wore dark clothes to hide their face and figure but Filly knew instantly that it was Doctor Young. The Doctor got to the shore a lot of quicker than she expected, the boat bobbed happily on the waves as she got on the sands on Gotham. Filly pushed her eyes further and gave a small sorry smile as Young dropped on to the wet sand and began crying. Soon she got to her feet and ran off into the city; Filly's eyes could no longer follow the doctor so she closed off the connection to the memory and turned her attention back to her saviour.

"Thank you Bane, for saving me," He didn't say a word but he gave her a look which she took as his way of saying 'you're welcome', "Why did you save me?" Her curiosity couldn't help itself.

There was a short pause before he answered, "You remind me of someone I used to know. Her name was Pix."

Filly had come across that name before when she was reading through 'Batman: Gotham Knights. Pix's full name was Ariadne Pixnit, she was an incredible tattoo artist who had a special kind of ink that she could program to create different designs. But Gotham is a dangerous place, she was attacked and raped by a gang of thugs and they left her for dead on the street. Pix was determined to get her revenge on the gang so she began designing lethal tattoos on herself and using some sort of remote-computer-control she could bring them to life in order to dispatch the gang members one by one. Later on she injected a large amount of the ink into her skull giving her the power to create creatures and weapons on her skin.

Bane catches up with Pix just as she is hunting down the last of her attackers, they share a bond together in lost innocence and through the darkest part of their lives they find friendship.

Filly wasn't sure how she should feel at what Bane said but it seemed that there relationship was going to along similar lines. There was no way she ever wanted to be one of his enemies.

"I see."

"And thank you."

She gave him a questioning look."Thank you? For what?" she asked.

He gave a small smile and leaned closer in to her,"For not being afraid to touch me."

**Ooohhh you asdfghjkl.**

A hot embarrassed rush went through Filly's entire body, the fangirl within her was doing about fifty seven somersaults. Wanting to avoid eye contact she stared up the side of the cliff, the distance wasn't too far but she wasn't going to chance jumping it herself, "Think you could give me a boost?" she asked unsure.

Bane gave a somewhat cheeky grin, he placed the back of his hands flat on the ground and motioned her to step on them. Nervous she stepped onto his large hands carefully and breathed deeply while counting to ten in her head. Pushing the dread into the pit of her stomach she gave Bane a nod and looked towards the sky. Bane counted out loud and after 'three' she was thrown. Filly held in a scream as she flew through the air, she tried not to close her eyes as if she banged into the side of the cliff it was going to be painful.

Fortunately she passed the edge of the cliff side but her landing was less than ladylike. She prayed that no one had seen her but knowing that there were hidden camera's everywhere she wouldn't be surprised if the Joker saw what happened. How long was it going to be before she fully had good control over her power. It had helped her out on a couple of occasions during the night but when it came to something simple like landing gracefully her power suddenly failed in that department. She lay flat on the grassy ground for a few minutes for her heart to return to it's normal beat. Feeling better she peered over the edge and looked down to see Bane but he was gone.

 **I better go and find Batman. Let him know I'm alright.** She had an idea of where he might be and went in the direction of the Penitentiary but then something caught her eye. A faint green light was casting a large shadow, it's form was in a shape of a question mark. Her eyes widened in excitement as she approached the Riddler trophy, picking it up carefully though her hands were shaking she undone her belt, slotted in through the buckle and did herself up again, it wasn't too heavy but she didn't want it hanging on her for too long. While she was here she felt that she had to visit Amadeus Arkham's grave and pay her respects.

Whenever Filly had played Arkham Asylum and read comics on Amadeus's his story always tugged at her heartstrings. Before setting foot into the game she described Arkham to her friends by using the saying 'misery loves company', she couldn't help but be proud of herself for her short description. However one of her friends made a point that if everyone attention asylum was miserable then why was the Joker always happy? They had a big debate over it for a while.

What got to her the most about Amadeus's history was a riddle, not exactly about him but about his families killer Mad Dog. Inside the botanical gardens was a statue of Lady Arkham, her head had sadly came off and sat at the stone feet but the part that struck out the most was the place, it used to clearly say, 'CONSTANCE ARKHAM...My Dear Wife...The First Lady Of Arkham a fitting tribute to the beautiful woman. However across the plack 'Mad Dog' was scratched in, a dark but yet another fitting tribute.

While in her daydream world she forgotten just how freezing cold her body was; stepping out of dream land she looked down at her soaked clothes and thanked God that the top she wore wasn't see through. The sooner she got herself dried and into different clothing the better. The only place she knew where extra clothes were available was in the Penitentiary. Filly arrived in Arkham West in no time but Batman wasn't outside, she decided to go straight into the Penitentiary but halted outside the visitor center.

Filly then realized just how angry she was at the Joker for sending TITAN Freddie to her; rushing towards the entrance she felt like punching down the doors in rage, even the goons who were working on the designing the doorway backed away from her as she stormed through. Inside the visitors center the Joker was still begin the glass, he sat with one leg over the other with his head in his hands as if he had been waiting hours for her.

He noticed her and a unsettling smile grew on his face when he saw the state she was in, "Did you have fun with the fishes?" he giggled.

"Sometimes your jokes aren't very funny." She replied grabbing her hair tightly and rinsed out as much water as she could,"How did you get Freddie to become a TITAN? You couldn't of perfected the formula by then."

The Joker raised an eyebrow, "Just how much do you know missy hmm? You know a lot more than you should" he got right up to the glass and gave her a questioning look with a hint of a threat attached to it, "Spill the beans."

Unsure of what to say she decided not to give anything away and put on her bratty teenager act, "I just know things Mr Joker. I have no bullshit visions of the future. The only things I can do is slow time and see memories."

"Little girls shouldn't say nasty words." he sneered.

She should of figured that Joker wasn't the swearing type. It felt strange giving him an apologetic look. The clown gave a small laugh which she took as his way of accepting her apology.

"Memories you say? Anything worth gossiping about my dear?" he asked all cheery.

"Not really...I saw Croc Boy devour a couple of guys in the medical building but that's pretty much it, will let you know if I pick up on anything else gruesome." Filly was so surprised that she could easily talk like this to the killer clown.

He gave a satanic chuckle, "That's what I like to hear from my arkham gal."

 **Arkham gal eh?** Filly giggled and Joker gave her a wink. The agent of chaos gave another giggle, picked up a TV and placed it on his head. Figuring that it was her time to leave she waved and left the center, once outside she took a minute to admire the work the Jokers goons had done on the doors and it was coming together rather nicely.

From the corner of her eye she spotted movement, the Dark Knight had finally arrived outside the Penitentiary, he was typing into his cowl and didn't notice her until she called out.

"Batman!" She shouted running towards him. Relief washed through the Dark Knight when he saw Filly running to him but his expression changed and showed no concern when she got closer.

"Are you alright?" he asked simply.

Filly nodded feeling a bit disappointed that he didn't seem to care, "Um here, I think you'll need this" she threw over the Riddler trophy to him, "Since you've got your hands full at the moment if I notice any more I'll collect them for you."

"He won't like this, he'll say it's cheating" Batman says while pressing a hidden button underneath the trophy, he then quickly examines his cowl, pushes a few controls so that Filly could hear the Riddler having a fit!

"Wait that's trophy number 24, that was in Arkham East and you're in the Penitentiary?! But you wouldn't have carried it all the way there…wait a minute…CHEAT! Who did you get to fetch it for you hmm?" the Riddler cried in a childlike anger which made Filly smile, hearing him react like this almost made her forget just how dangerous this villain was, "That's ONE STRIKE Batman! If you get two more then Gotham will get its treat earlier than expected!"

Once he had finished his outburst Filly let out a laugh she had been holding back, she swore that Batman even grinned but he controlled his emotions so well that it was gone in a flash.

A sudden question popped into her head and she decided to ask him now because there was a high chance she wouldn't be able to ask him later,"Batman, did you know someone called Glitch?"

The Dark Knight was slightly taken aback by her question, he decided to keep his answers short. "I did. She was a friend."

Filly didn't like the word 'was' it only meant one of two things; Glitch had broken all contact with Batman or she was dead.

"What happened to her?" she knew she was treading on thin ice but the questions refused to stop.

"She's missing."

"For how long?"

She could clearly see that he didn't want to talk about it but Filly couldn't help herself, she was desperate to know about this character. His pace slowed for a moment and he opened his mouth to reply but closed it again and continued walking.

 


	11. Memories and Pain

Batman had taken care of the first thugs in the Penitentiary entrance while Filly had picked up the Victor Zsasz interview tape that the Dark Knight had ran by and once the goons had been knocked out she gave him the tape and he began to listen to it. While Batman stood and listened Filly hunted out the box of clothes she had before, tipped out and stared at the remaining choices. Squinting her lips she peeked out to check on Batman who was had finished listening to the tape and was now waiting for her.

This wasn't the sort of pressure she had ever been under, her wardrobe back home was filled with comfortable clothes so it never took her more than five minutes to get ready. Thinking on her feet an idea popped into head; Filly willed her slow motion abilities to travel into the area where Batman was standing, she round the corner and saw him standing completely still, once a few moments passed she figured that it worked then quickly began to change.

Thankfully the box had spare underwear in it but the bra wasn't very supportive, the other clothing options weren't much better. She bent over and pressed the button on the hand dryer, it wasn't as strong as she she hoped but rolling her hair all around it felt less damp, she'd have to face the dreaded curls. This time she chosen red tartan jeans which was one size too big but luckily a belt came with it, big black army styled boots through weren't as heavy as they looked and a white blouse that was missing something buttons and showed off her cleavage, it made her very self conscious but it was better than the other t-shirts that were up for offer. Glancing in the mirror her eyes couldn't avert from her new look, the blouse was a lot more see through than she expected so she grabbed a long black apron, ripped it and improvised a scarf. Around her neck it was just longer enough so she gave a thankful sigh and prayed that she'd find something more suitable later.

As happy as she could be with her new outfit she walked back to Batman, her power had wore off on him and she couldn't help but smile when the Dark Knight gave a tiny confused look at how fast she had gotten herself sorted. He gave her a sort of disapproval look about the clothes but it didn't inherited his face for long. The 'Glitch' subject had been dropped so she made a note to ask Joker at their next meeting.

Each step that they took the sounds of gnashing and gurgling got louder, it made Filly's skin crawl and her pace slowed without herself realizing. He placed his hand comfortably on her shoulder trying to give her the confidence to walk forward. Swallowing as much fear as she could to the pit of her stomach she walked beside Batman trying to match his pace and avoid eye contact with the crazies.

Filly wondered if she should tell Batman that she knew who he was, instead of just coming out with it she decided that she was going to give him some hints, "I found out some interesting stuff about myself in Doctor Young's office," he was silent, "Like on my birthday did you know that Bruce Wayne donates a lot of money to the asylum."

The Dark Knight stopped in his tracks, he looked over his shoulder at her and calm asked, "How long have you known?"

"Oh, only a little while."

He gave a small nod then continued walking, she figured that that was a conversation for another time.

Suddenly the floor began to buzz signalling that the electricity was about to fry them. The electrical gate hadn't been put up yet and with the sparks nipping at her feet she quickly ran through before it closed.

"I'll find a way to get you out of there." she heard Batman call. **He must of got up there with his grappling hook.**

"Don't worry about me! Go ahead and save the Warden, I'll find my own way out."

She heard the whoosh of his cape then he was gone. It was just then she realized that she was more or less alone with the cells holding insane men she decided to pace back and forth slowly to calm herself but it wasn't working. Filly was losing her nerve but from the corner of her eye she noticed that a cell door was open. Frozen to the spot she listen for movement but it didn't sound like there was anybody running about. Swallowing the lump in her throat she approached the cell slowly, her eyes darting everywhere making sure that no one was about to jump out and attack her.

On closer inspection she recognized the cell and her heart was able to beating steadily again.

Julian Day a.k.a Calender Man, his cell was one of the gem riddles in the game, to Filly it felt very unique to have the character mentioned as he wasn't hugely popular but she believed Rocksteady was going to completely change him around and make him someone worth talking about in the next Batman game, whenever that was getting made. Filly entered the small claustrophobic cell and let her eyes take everything in, a particular date was screaming out to her. Reaching out her hand went underneath the biggest pile of dates, her fingertips glided across at the papers until she found the one that was calling out to her.

The date was the Thursday 19th of June but the year had been torn off at the bottom but she traced along the rough edges in search of the memory it possessed. Darkness engulfed her as she locked on to the memory, the first thing she could hear was a loud snoring but her eyes soon adjusted in the shadows and she saw him asleep with his long limbs sprawled out lying in an awkward position. Suddenly an alarm went off that was loud enough to destroy dreams, Julian bolted up in the darkness then the lights in his cell flashed which stung Filly's eyes but Calender Man wasn't bothered by it. Soon guards arrived at the cell door, they brought Julian out and a few others then took them to shower then to the cafeteria for breakfast. Julian sat on his own and even though she was only viewing the memory she sat down and watched him eat.

There was a commotion in a nearby room which got Julian's attention, he walked closer to the door was able to peek inside without alerting any of the guards. Inside the room a breakfast party was being held, there were a couple of banners hanging and different coloured balloons scattered randomly around the room. Day raised an eyebrow puzzled, he knew most of all the doctors, guards and patients birthdays but they hardly ever celebrated them in such a miserable place. He stood on his tip toes to see if he could recognize any of the people inside; there was Doctor Chen and Doctor Gretchen, he also spotted Arron Cash but a red balloon was covering the face of the birthday boy or girl.

From the angle he was watching he could that it was a child's birthday breakfast. The balloon covering the face of the child was moved away and he got to the see the birthday kid. A little girl was digging into a helping of a full English breakfast, beside her were five small presents and two big ones; Julian felt like he was watching a happy family show through that little window, he couldn't describe the amount of shock, his mind couldn't understand why there was a child in the asylum. Long ago there had been a children's ward but after so many deadly incidents it was closed down and moved to another part of Gotham. He moved about the cafeteria but kept his eyes on the little girl, he saw her open her gifts, she was delighted at horse jig-saw and beanie baby.

The guards gathered the patients and took them back to their cells to wait for the next part of the schedule. Julian wondered what he could give the asylum child, little girls liked dolls but there was no way he could obtain one or sneak out to see if there was one in the lost and found. No a doll wouldn't do, a simple plastic doll wouldn't last, six months and toys usually end up in the trash. Instead of something predictable he decided that he wanted his gift to be special, something that would inspire and hopefully have a good impact on the little soul. Julian tore down a date from the wall, used an old magazine as a ruler and took out a pencil he had safely tucked hidden away in his mattress.

Day was so paranoid, he was going to great lengths to hide what he was creating even Filly couldn't make it out. The memory flashed forward to later in the evening, somehow Julian had managed to escape his cell and so far he had given the guards and cameras the slip. He prayed that his good luck wouldn't run out, he only wanted to give the girl her gift he didn't care if by the end of it he was dragged beaten and bloody back to his cell.

It had took a lot of twists and turned in the corridors to find her cell but instead he found a little room and inside there was a small lamp on as the light shone from underneath the door. Julian lightly tapped the door three times and from behind there was a scurry of panicked feet and the light was off. He chuckled to himself and opened the door.

The little child was tucked up under her covers and was faking her snoring, he smiled and took two steps into her room, "Hello there"

The girl didn't recognize the voice, she peeked over her shoulder and her eyes grew large. Jumping out of her bed she hid behind her bed post but never took her large eyes off him. Julian didn't expect her to be as small as she was but on closer inspection he noticed how strong her legs and arms looked he wondered how a little girl got such muscles. He bent down so that he was level with her and tried to entice her over but she stayed back hugging the corner of her bed. Moving forward slightly he smiled trying to look kinder, "I have present for you."

The asylum child's eyes sparkled at his words, she took small steps towards and a frown grew on her face when she couldn't spy a present. From within a self made pocket on his orange jumpsuit he carefully took out the small surprise and held it out on his palms.

She was mesmerized at Calender Man's gift. Sitting in his hands was a paper statue of a horse.

"What is your name child?" he asked.

"My name is Emily but Mr Cash calls me wee Filly" She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Julian smiled and gave a quiet chuckle, "Is that so? Then tell me Miss Emily do you know the rhyme about the months?", she nodded her head and now looked eager to recite it.

"Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, Excepting February alone. And that has twenty-eight days clear. And twenty-nine in each leap year."

Julian couldn't of looked more pleased, he open his mouth to say 'well done' but an alarm went off in the background and within moments asylum guards stormed into the room and all pounced on Calender Man.

Tears began to form in the little girls eyes, her smile was gone and replaced was a confused and terrified frown. The guards had trouble getting him on the ground and little Filly was pushed on to her knees which angered Julian, he looked up and saw that bastard Frank Boles; the other guards didn't see him do it but Calender Man watched the alcoholic snatch the paper horse from Filly's hand, he placed it on the ground and demolished it with his boot. Julian roared and tried to go for him but he stopped as little Filly began to scream like a banshee, she crawled over to her ruined present and clutched it to her chest, her tears splashed on to the paper and soaked through into it. Her red eyes locked on to Julian's and in his head he heard, "Why? why? why?"

Had no one explained to her that she was living in a dungeon that was filled with monsters? Was she the princess waiting to be rescued? Or was someone keeping her locked up for there own entertainment? He'd not find out these answers tonight, as he was dragged back to his cell he accepted his fate and drowned out all the insults and threats the guards were throwing at him.

"What were you going to do to her Day?" there was so much suggestion behind the question and the situation that flashed in Julian's eyes was furious.

"I'm not a child molester." But those guards didn't care, Filly let her tears role down as she watched Julian take a beating

The scene dissolved around her and in a few moments she was back in Calenderman's cell, all of the dates had fallen off the walls, the sheets of papers covered up to her ankles, each date was tempting her so she grabbed a handful and put them in her pocket and got out of the cell. Her cheeks were soaked and no doubt her eyes were burning red but the memory kept replaying itself in her head, she could hear her cry's, Julian's roars and she swore she heard a dark chuckle escape Frank's lips. She was so happy that the Joker had him killed.

Filly stopped and checked out her surroundings, the cell doors were all still shut and the fight outside had stopped so it wouldn't be too long. Filly figured that Batman close to saving the Warden, she headed to the Green Mile hoping to catch up with the story but halfway there there was a shout, "Hey!"

Harley stopped in her tracks and got a good look at the clothes she was now wearing, "Now that's more like it!"

Filly tried to give the best teasing smile but gave up her decision halfway through and settled for a lopsided grin, "Glad you like it, tartan really suits me don't cha think."

The clown smiled and told Filly to follow her, they stood at the doors for a few seconds as the light scanned down then they opened. A red light illuminated the room and its source came from the middle cell, Poison Ivy sat sobbing, she hadn't noticed them yet; Filly he kept quiet as Harley sang to herself and waited for Poison Ivy to say her line.

**In three, two, one...**

"Harley! Stop, please, you have to help me." Ivy breathed in and out heavily and very dramatically.

"Gee Ivy? You look like crap. Maybe I can sneak ya some shampoo." Filly tried her hardest to stop herself from copying Harley's lines, she loved watching the cut scenes and mimicking the voices, Harley's voice was always her favourite to do.

"The plants! Can't you hear them? They're crying out of me in agony!"

"Yeah? Well I really don't have time for this."

"Please let me out! They'll die without me!"

"I dunno Red. You're not on Mr J's party list. Oh well."

"Please!"

 **Oh my God this is awesome.** The fangirl inside her was rolling around as the 'cut scene' was performed right in front of her.

"Oh come on Harley, she deserves to get out and stretch her legs."

The queen clown smiled and gave a wink then spun round to face Ivy, "Ah, what the heck I'll cut you a break." She slotted the card through and the doors to Ivy's cell opened.

"That feels so much better."

Ivy paid no attention to Filly, no glance, no smirk, no smile. The Gotham siren wasn't really Filly's cup of tea, she found her to be too cold and a bit of a bitch, and although she understood why she was like that she couldn't get into her character.

"She's a good kid" said Filly grinning happily that she managed to steal Harley's line.

Harley dragged her by the arm to exit the room but Filly had other ideas, "You go on ahead I ehh, gotta use the bathroom" she lied. Harley didn't look convinced but she shrugged her shoulders. Filly was never any good at lying but she quickly ran through to the security room before the crazies were released.

When entering the security room she turned to the cell which held yet another of her favourite riddles. Inside was Quincy Sharp, he was pacing back and forth trying to get the attention of Batman but he noticed Filly watching him and began to talk.

"Filly! Get me out of here! That fool Batman is rescuing an imposter!"

She smirked at him, "Nice try Clayface." He stopped pacing and gave her a cold look but all of a sudden he started to laugh.

"It was worth a try."

Batman came walking down the stairs after gathering the riddler trophy, he looked relieved to see her.

"Who is the one armed man up there?"

"One armed? He has two arms Emily, and he is Marcus Short, murdered all his family members on Christmas Eve 1978. I need to get after Quinn, she'll have hostages and I need her fingerprint to track Joker. I want you to find survivors on the grounds and take them to the medical building, that's the most safest place on the island right now."

"Alright, if she has hostages in the building she'll be on the move pretty quickly, go to Controlled Access they'll be a door at the end and to your left, it takes you to Extreme Incarceration, that's where you'll find Harley."

Filly followed Batman out and stood back as he took down the crazies. The made it too the main cell block where Harley was about to make yet another appearance.

"Surprise! You Bat's I always thought there was a spark between us." Harley giggled and did her trick jumps, "Well now there is!" the electric floor was coming to life, "Come and get me Bat's! I double dare yah!"

Batman whispered to Filly to leave and she obeyed, before the doors finally closed she saw Batman battling the goons. Outside she avoided a few crazies and noticed that a few thugs had been taken out by a few of them. She quickly and silently walked to the watch tower, she remembered that a guard hid there and hoped that he was still alive, he was flying and unmoving and there was no pulse. Shame, she liked that guard, first time she played the game she had been upset that he died.

Back on the ground she landed silently and hid in the long grass; looking around for survivors and enemies she spotted a girl dressed in white, it was one of the girls who had group therapy with her. In a matter of seconds she was by the girls side trying to get her away but the girl wouldn't move. Filly followed the girls gaze and her eyes widened in horror; the corpse of the girls dead sister lay battered and bloody, her neck and stomach and been ripped open, there were bite marks and large hand shaped bruises. Panicking she tried to pull the girl hard as the killer would not be far, but from behind her there was an odd sort of clanging noise. Turning slowly she saw one of the released crazed patients, they had managed to break through their mouth piece and was showing off like a hungry dog going in for the kill. He had his teeth bared like an piranha and was on all fours like a saber tooth tiger. It made a gargling cry, jumped and ran towards her with his arms waving frantically waving.

He was fast and almost upon them, she gave the girl a huge thump to her side which knocked her over and out of the crazies way but within seconds he collided with Filly, she just managed to stay on her feet and wrestle with him. The force against her was so strong her knees were going numb, they buckled slightly and it felt like the fight was over just as it begun. Holding on to whatever strength was still willing to battle the patient got fed up of his opponent, he lifted his head back, mouth wide open and sunk his teeth into her flesh easily as a knife sliding into butter.

Filly's cry was almost loud enough to alert all the other mindless patients on the grounds. He was like a savage dog with a chew toy trying its hardest to rip it to pieces, the pain made her submit to her knees and the amount of blood she was losing was making her stomach boil up sickness. A lot of blood ran down her arm and poured on to the ground, her eyesight was getting dimmer every second, she tried to pull but when she did his shark like teeth got deeper.

All of a sudden the crazy let go and threw her backwards. He stalked around her eyeing her flesh to see where he would bite next, approaching Filly who was so weak her vision was vastly fading, her ears heard a dragging sound and footsteps so soft it was as if they belonged to a ghost. The patient girl carried a large, heavy log, she looked so small against it, she swung it above her head and it just hit the crazy in the side of the head. He cried in fury at the sight of his own blood and tried to attack the girl but she gave him no chance, she swung five times, each swing ripped his skin and when he finally fell the log beat his bones to dust and smashed his head to jelly.

The scene made Filly forget about her arm only for a few moments, the wound was bad but she could feel it healing at a steady pace and she hoped that she wouldn't have a scar. Most of the blood rolled back into the cut but her eyes couldn't look away from the large puddle of red, there were no wind but the complete stillness sent a cruel icy cold shiver through her veins.

Tears spilled out of her eyes and for a few quiet seconds she couldn't feel the warm beads roll down her cheeks or hear her coughing sobs. The attack had changed her perspective on her situation, although at the start she knew that there would be danger around every corner she had made herself believe that she was going to be fine and calm. Being in the asylum had made her forget that she was simply an ordinary girl in the real world, if she had entered the asylum as Curly she wouldn't of lasted five minutes.

The girl tugged on her sleeve, her hair still covering over her wide eyes and blood covered her white dress. She looked lost without her sister by her side, the girl was staring at her with a questioning frown which seemed to ask 'Why can't I wake her up?", Filly gave the best small smile she could and placed her hand on the girls shoulder. Filly sucked up the remaining pain and got to her feet constantly her eyes darting to her almost healed up wound, she grabbed the girls hand and took her up to the steps to the entrance of the doors of the medical building.

She had no idea why she thought she would be invincible, Hell how many times had she almost died already? She had no clue if she died maybe she'd be at one of her checkpoints or maybe she would wake up in her own bed or she really would be dead. From this moment on she wasn't treating this as a game, this was the real world. She could eat and drink, cry and feel pain and it was all real.

The girl was now safe with the doctor, they had made a huge barricade but kept a area clear so they could crawl through to get supplies, she found out that the girls name was Cassandra, she didn't speak but Filly could tell that Cassandra was thankful at her rescue attempt.

Leaving the building she sat over the elevator edge and pondered on her next move. A thought popped into her as she saw the Dark Knight leave the Penitentry and run for the botanical gardens; he would spend a little time fighting and jumping, moving past so many obstacles just to get to Poison Ivy and Joker. Filly decided she was going to kill some time by doing something incredibly dangerous.

It was time to go into the sharp jaws of the asylum.


	12. Encounters

The sewer corridor seemed to have got longer when she took her first steps into Killer Croc's lair. A foul smell of dirty water and rotting meat got trapped under nostrils and it stuck in the back of her throat, her stomach threatened her with sickness but she waited a few moments to let it settle.

The grates stared at her in such a way it was like they were laughing at her, they were saying 'scaredy cat!' in their silent wooden voices. Filly was sure that she was finally going mad. Bubbling up all the courage she could muster, she pushed her fear aside and lifted her foot and placed it as gently and quietly on to the crate.

Once both feet were on the first grate, it sunk only slightly but Filly felt like a sack of bricks on top of them. The green lights illuminated the walls, the thick gunk which looked like a mix between mucus, soot and other things she tried not to think about.

She got to the first plant rather easily with no fuss; the batarang easily tore through the plant, it dropped with a squishy thud onto the crate then Filly began to collect the spores. In her pocket there were ten batarangs left, she prayed that she wouldn't run out. The only thing she didn't have was the line launcher which didn't really matter as she was sure she'd be able to jump the distance.

Finding a vile had been easy, the doctors examined him so often they had plenty of viles with his blood, saliva, scales and so forth, there were plenty of clean ones but no toppers. In the end she grabbed a handful of paper towels, ripped them up and twisted them tightly into the top, Filly hoped that is would keep everything inside. She was done collecting from the first plant and readied herself for Croc.

"Why am I doing this? I was almost killed by a crazy and Croc is about two hundred times more dangerous and monstrous." **Oh come on Filly is your chance to show you can be as** **strong, brave and as badass at Robin and Batgirl! T** **his is the mission that you fail badly at but come on, don#t feel scared be** **determined, you can win this,** "Yeah...I can do it..."

She began to break down mentally the path in her head. In the game it always seemed long as you'd end up going the wrong way or Croc would begin destroying the crates and you'd end up having to double back. Then he'd pop up from under the water and come trudging towards you in his sinister pace. The thought made her stomach boil back to life with sickness; not being able to stop her stomach this time she threw up into the remains of the plant, her eyes shut tight and her nose crinkled up as if to block out the smell.

Croc had surely already caught her scent, she imagined that she smelled a lot different from Batman, he'd be so pleased that he would be getting a 'easy meal'.

The waters began to ripple wickedly, Filly heard croaks and snarls then the animal roared, "You dare come down to my sewer!? You won't find the big bad wolf down here...here you'll find something much more worse!"

Filly could practically here the music in her head, the sharp violins and horrific drums; Croc unleashed himself from the water and charged towards her. She wished her fears would release her but her hand wouldn't let the batarang go! Every second he got closer Filly urged her power to slow time down; it worked but it was already beginning to crack underneath Killer Croc's strength. The batarang locked on to the collar, it flew from her hand and hit Croc; time returned to its normal pace and Croc clutched his collar and fell into the water.

The crates swayed from side to side then quickly settled; there was a taste of accomplishment on her lips, she couldn't believe that she survived the first of the Croc confrontations. Adrenaline was tingling in her fingertips she was itching to run on the crates and give it all she had, but she knew that would be a stupid idea.

Crouching down she took quick quiet steps, corner after corner she finally found another plant and collected from it. Croc hadn't made another appearance yet and it started to worry her; the sooner she got the spores the better, she quickened her pace a little more but it was a bad move.

"I've got your scent girl" came a growl.

Like before, Croc burst out from the water and came towards her but Filly was ready. The batarang did its job and Croc fell back into the water. She was sure that there were only two more plants to find; after crossing more crates the water rumbled and from behind the wooden platforms were destroyed. A bead of sweat rolled down her face and splashed on the wood, Filly managed to get to the third plant without a hitch but she a frightened shiver ran up and down her spine, she knew that this was going to be tricky.

In front of her was a wall and beyond it was the next plant and any moment now Croc would come crashing down. She heard a loud splash and the animals roar echoed; shaking more than ever with the batarang in her sweaty palm, the wall came down and Croc looked incredibly close. Unsure if the batarang had locked on she threw it and luckily it hit his collar but it wasn't as effective as before. It sparked and zapped Croc, he ignored it but at the last second the jolt of electricity struck him again and he fell just a few inches away, but Croc lashed out, his body was under water but his large scale talons clawed at the crate Filly was on. Panicking Filly grab another batarang and stabbed in three times into his hand, after the third he brought back his hands and settled back underneath the small waves.

Her heart battered against her ribcage and she could hear its pounding in her ears. The fourth plant was in her sight and she wasted no time in collecting the final spores. The test tube was filled to the top then secured and place safety in her pocket. She stood straight and stared at the path ahead of her, Filly couldn't believe she had survived this far and she had no intention of failing now.

The journey back was going to be quick, she arrived at the gap and managed to jump across to the other side, when Batman used the line launcher Croc would reach out and try to grab him but he made no attempt to reach her. But she knew that he was trying to scare her and it was working only slightly; jumping over gates and going past corners with no sign of Croc Filly figured out what he was waiting for. In the final hurdle of Croc's sewers, the camera would change and Batman would have to run while the crates turned into splinters behind him.

**In three...two...one.**

The water bubbled and the crate was gone, Filly smiled to herself, she was thankful that she had her running abilities there would be no way he would catch her here. In a flash she was at the other end and she laughed as she took a moment to watch the crates explode.

Approaching the gate Batman was just on the other side fiddling about with his cowl, he heard her footsteps followed by a blood curdling roar right behind Filly. Croc unleashed himself from the water and the gate slammed shut trapping her in the monsters den. The Dark Knight took hold of his explosive gel and threw through a gap in the gate, a small canister filled with gel which looked like a grenade landed by her feet; bending down she picked it up and screwed off the top, her breathing heavy and throat drying up in terror.

"Take two steps forward and empty it on to the ground, quickly!"

Croc was approaching fast but Filly's power struck out and bought her a few more seconds. The gel was emptied out onto the concrete and Croc had broken through Filly's power. He was getting closer. **Oh shit**. And closer. **I don't want to die here!** And closer.

"Batman now!"

She curled herself into a ball and shut her eyes so tight as if she was trying to punch tears out of her eyes. There was a loud explosion and the shouts from Croc falling into complete darkness, the gate was pulled up and Filly toppled over and sprawled her limbs out willing her shaking bones to steady.

"You could have gotten yourself killed," she lifted her heavy head and looked up at him; the Dark Knight's eyes looked furious and made Filly feel so small; he sighed and held out his hand, "Give me the spores"

Slowly moving on to her knees she pulled out the test tube filled with spores, she was surprised that it was still in one piece. Handing it over he remembered the pace of the game and she couldn't stop herself from asking, "What happened to Scarecrow?"

"He was pushed into the water by Ivy's vines. I want you to stay here for at least ten minutes to let yourself calm down then I want you to head back up to the surface and go to the front of Intensive Treatment, around the corner there is-"

"I know-" she interrupted him.

He gave her a small nod, took out his line launcher and headed to the exit. Once Batman had gone Filly scurried over to the water and lightly touched it with her fingertips, she had to find out what happened to Scarecrow. Images flashed in her mind, Scarecrow holding his fear powder over the waters then out of nowhere he was pushed off his feet by a vine and the bag of fear landed with a innocent thud on the edge. She couldn't get any more clear images of what happened next so he lifted her hand away from the water then something came out from the water and tried to pull her in.

Crying out in fury Filly grabbed on to the shoulders of her attacker and used all her strength to pull them out and knock them against the wall. Her eyes focused on the attacker and it was just who she wanted to see, Jonathan Crane scurrying to his feet holding on to the wall for support, half of his gas mask was missing, he took a swing at her which she easily dodged. After suriving Croc she wasn't going to take shit from the skinny, now powerless villain.

Filly reached out and grabbed his neck and threw him as hard as she could on the ground, he groaned and Filly was ready to punch him but he held up his hands in surrender and she found it rather amusing.

"I heard you scream, it was beautiful," Filly rolled her eyes, "What was your nightmare about?" he asked.

She wasn't exactly in the mood for this conversation but she humoured him, "It wasn't a nightmare. I screamed because I woke up in here."

He giggled, "The asylum is finally taking it's toll on you I see."

Grunting at him she crouched down in front of him and got into his face, if someone had seen them from a distance it would of looked like she was going in for a kiss, "Listen here you little worm, you need to get out of the asylum, I don't care where you go. You have failed in taking down the Batman, your time is up so I wouldn't bother going after him."

"The great Scarecrow doesn't take orders from little girls!"

**Jeez what is with the little girl treatment?!**

"Oohh the 'great Scarecrow', you are nothing without your mask. You better not be here when I get back Crane or I will feed you too the big bad Croc."

Before he could snap back with a remark she knocked him out and stood away from the master of fear. Before leaving she jumped over to wear he had dropped his fear poison, she wonder why Batman hadn't dealt with it. She picked it up and pushed it into the deep corners of her pocket. Heading back up she decided she would pay a visit to the Joker before meeting with Batman.

"Filly my dear! I was beginning to wonder where you were."

"Yeah...I had a date with a temper tantrum lizard."

He giggled, "Well I've been thinking, you need a new name."

She grew a little red, "I...I have thought about a proper...superhero name."

"Ooooohhhhhh please share! I'd love to hear!" She wasn't sure if he was faking the enthusiasm but she went along with it.

"Warmblood"

"Ha ha! Seriously?! Where you'd get that idea?!" he laughed.

Filly bit her lip and saved back a snarky reply, "It's a breed of horse, a couple of my ideas are."

"Hmm what else?"

"Sorraia?"

Joker pulled a face then gave her a thumbs down.

"Mallorquin?"

"Yuck! Is that even an english word?! Nope, don't like it."

She sighed and told him her final name idea, "Shadowmare"

He was silent for a few moments, "Hmmm...Shadowmare...I like it! It's dark and mysterious, a title worthy of an Arkham gal," Filly gave a small smile, "However, you need to earn the name my dear so scoot along, I'll be watching."

Being called 'Arkham Gal'gave her butterflies in her stomach, she was pleased that the Joker liked the name but she decided to keep it quiet from Batman. He was standing waiting for her, she rushed to his side and he explained the next move. The Botanical Gardens.

They rushed over there in silence, Filly couldn't believe that the end was almost in sight, time was flying past in the madhouse and it was so hard keeping up.

"Are you ready?" the Batman asked when they reached the doors of the gardens. Filly nodded and followed Batman through. The first thing that hit her was the smell and the blinding shades of green, "What do we have here? You brought help Batman?" Poison Ivy's voice sounded from the walls. Vines wrapped around Filly's arms and legs, she was thrown off her feet and dragged into the cracks of the wall. Batman threw several batarangs but none managed to tare the vines apart. "You better hurry Batman, you wouldn't want your little sidekick to fall into my charms."

Filly groaned as her body landed with a thud on the ground, she felt the last of the vines leave her skin then she got on to her hands and knees. As her eyes adjusted to the light Filly stared at the concrete floor but two long, slender green legs crossed her field of vision; slowly looking up Filly locked eyes with Poison Ivy.


	13. Father Arkham

Filly rushed on to her feet and took a few steps back, her eyes never left Ivy's but from the corners she could see the plants moving, barricading all other exits. Trapped and her mind silently panicking, Poison Ivy chuckled at her as if she was a child who had thought they had done something naughty.

"Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you child." her voice slow and smooth you could paint with it. Filly stayed silent, she had nothing to say to Ivy but if she didn't speak maybe the green woman might change her mind and turn her vines on her.

"What do you want?"

"Well to have a chat of course. It has been a long time since I had some, female company."

That was one thing Filly agreed with, on all her interview tapes men dealt with her. This was Poison Ivy for God's sake! She can literally wrap them all around her long green fingers.

Filly gave a forced smile and chuckled but it came out more like a cough.

Ivy sighed dramatically, "You don't remember our first meeting do you?"

"I'm afraid I don't Miss Ivy."

"Not to worry, it was a long time ago and you were very young. Not to mention the experiments they did on you must play a part in that as well."

Filly's eyes widened, "Experiments?" she had been so frightened to say it. Ivy didn't reply instead she motioned Filly to walk towards her; two large leaf's spread apart to revealed a delicate purple flower, its stem was curled many times and it was quivering, "Touch its petals my dear. It may give you some lost answers."

Lightly brushing her fingers on the petals so she didn't damage them, her eyes shut and the memory begun. The scene started in the Glasshouse, it was quiet, the fountain had been badly damaged and it wasn't working. Listening closely she heard a crumbling sort of sound coming from the second level. Going up she saw a child, no older than six or seven, clearly it was her younger self. Young Filly had a small shovel and with it she was digging holes in the compost patch that had been made for her then placed plant bulbs ever so carefully inside.

It was nice to see herself having fun and not in any kind of danger but these kind of moments never lasted in he asylum.

All of a sudden the entrance doors boomed open and all plant life came to life. Vines lifted up a woman over the edge, she stood in front of the child, her eyes grew wide when the little Filly saw Poison Ivy. She crawled backwards and dropped her shovel it was hard to take her eyes away from the strange lady.

Poison Ivy raised her eyebrow, surprised to encounter a child in the gardens. "Little girl," little Filly slowly got to her feet, "I am looking for a flower with purple petals, and a stem that curls into many loops, it has a sickly sweet scent to mortals." Ivy wasn't too sure if the little girl knew that term for humans but she nodded her head a couple of times then answered.

"I know a plant that looks like that, Daddy Arkham has it in his office."

"Bring it to me." Ivy commanded Ivy harshly.

Little Filly pulled a face at the lady's manners, "You didn't say the magic word."

Ivy gave her a stern look as she was quickly losing patience, "Bring the flower to me, please."

With a beaming smile Filly ran off. In Doctor Arkham's office the flower sat in a glass case which was locked off and to get it opened you have to unlock the combination. She watched in amazement as her younger self touched the combination, closed her eyes and through her memory power got the code. Little Filly skipped back to the gardens holding the flower tightly in her hands but when she quietly stepped back into the Glasshouse guards were everywhere and it was hard to keep hidden. From above Filly could hear the conversation between Ivy who was strapped down on a long hard bed and a man who she assumed was Doctor Arkham.

"Daddy Jeremiah?" she laughed, "Poor child, doesn't understand that her guardian is a torturer."

Jeremiah chuckled darkly, "Now now Ivy, what I do with Miss Rogers is strictly my business," Ivy hissed, "Don't tell me you've suddenly sprung feelings for the child. You are showing your human side." He finished with a with a evil smirk like sneer.

"No! I will never be human again!" Ivy snapped, "And that child is more like me than human. One day she shall be the thing you most fear."

The Doctor's smile was unkind when he spoke back, "Don't worry about the daughter of Arkham, Pamela...", he leaned into her ear and whispered, "I'll kill her first."

**I'll kill her first. I'll kill her first. I'll kill her first.**

Those words repeated themselves in Filly's head a hundred times in those small seconds. The shock in her eyes felt like millions of bee stings, she was so overwhelmed in what she had just heard she hadn't realized that the memory had took on another scene. She wasn't in the gardens any more, it was a cell block. The cell's weren't bars or plain doors, it was a glass panel that separated the criminals and the one she was standing in front of had Poison Ivy in it, the cell was't the one from the game.

**Shows how much the asylum has changed.**

Little Filly who was standing right beside her, tapped lightly on the glass to get Ivy's attention, she stared through the red mist with large curious eyes and watched the miserable green lady look in her direction. Filly smiled at her and held up the purple potted plant and gave her a big accomplished grin. Poison Ivy made her way slowly over to her with her hands stretched out as if she's be able to go through the glass and touch it.

"Can I please keep it for you? I promise to look after it the best I can, I will water it all the time and plant little other flower friends for it."

"Do you swear you'll protect it with your life?" Ivy asked with a small smile filled with humour.

"Yes, cross my heart and hope to die." she took her finger and drew two lines across her heart.

Ivy couldn't help but slide a smile, she placed the tips of her fingers to her lips then blew little Filly a kiss. The scene ended, her eyes blinked a few times then she was back in front of Pamela.

Her brow was sweaty and she hunched her back trying to get her breath back, that memory had drained her, "I can't believe I called him Daddy Arkham" she said ending it in a smile.

"Did you find the answers you were looking for?"

"I found a few pieces to my puzzle but I now have more questions."

There was a rustling from behind them, the vines hovered beside Poison Ivy's ear as if it was whispering to her, "Batman is approaching. I will win the fight but I don't want you in harms way," Filly raised an eyebrow then noticed that her plants grew towards her, "I'll protect you." Before Filly could do anything vines whipped her back and instead of falling on the concrete ground, she was swallowed up by Ivy's pod.

The pod closed, sharp hairs prickled her bare flesh and the liquid it was producing was sticky and foul smelling. Her fist punched out the top but now that her hand was free the pod got tighter around her and it instantly sucked her back in. It felt as if she was trapped underwater, she kept moving around and doing roly-poly's as she was scared if she stayed still she'd be stuck in there and lose consciousness. There were muffled voice's from outside, she swore she heard Batman asking where she was but Ivy laughed and then there was the roar from the vicious monster plant. **  
**

Tumbling about and the smell of the pod's fluid made her stomach churn, she stopped, punched out the top of the pod again and her fist out flew out. Luck was on her side, she managed to catch a batarang and she would have cried out in triumph but the pod had become more suffocating. She brought her hand back in and began to try and cut her way out. Each time she pierced the pod it would heal up almost instantly, she tried hitting the same spot over and over but it wasn't working. Slashing did better damage but there was so many layers to carve through.

Minutes felt like hours trapped in the pod, the fluid got more sticky and it was getting harder to move. The pod's juice had slipped it's way threw the corners of her lips and shot down her throat and attacked her muscles, everything was slower and the green, yellow and red dim lights were fading into black. Her game was almost over.

Batman sent his fist down the middle just missing her head, the pod cried and burst open. Filly gasped and freed her lungs, before she could take another breath the glasshouse was crumbling to the ground, Batman forcefully grabbed her and held Filly as tightly as possible. He took out his grappling gun and shot it into the air, it clawed on to a strong structure and pulled them up to safety. On the huge rock on the other side of the Botanical Gardens, the Dark Knight lay her down carefully. Filly had never been so thankful to taste the air, her heart beat reduced to its normal speed and her lungs were no longer burning. Opening her eyes she stared up at Batman's face, his expression changed from concern to relief, "I'm sorry, I thought you were gone."

Coughing once, twice she gave him a smile as she propped herself onto her knees, "It's OK, you dealt with Ivy she's more important than me."

"No," he placed his hand on Filly's shoulder,"You are important Emily, more important than Ivy, Scarecrow, Waylon...more important than them all."

For a moment his words didn't sink in, she couldn't believe the words she had just heard. Filly held back a tear, she was about to reply but the speakers came to life and the fireworks banged above them in the night sky.

"Batman! Filly! I know it's been a long, hard night, but good news. The party is about to start! We've got something for everyone! Music, dancing, chemicals that create monsters. You don't want to miss it. So both of you, get your ass over to the Cell Block, or you'll miss your final surprise."

"The Joker can wait. He won't start without you. Riddler needs to be caught first Batman." Filly pointed to the trophy to the far right.

The Dark Knight looked like he was about to disagree but when he picked up the trophy Edward bragged in his intercom, he nodded his head and turned back to Filly, "You can't bring me the trophies, if you do he'll know and say that it's cheating. Follow me." They went to the hidden entrance next to Intensive Treatment; Batman placed his hand on the wall, there was a light that flashed three times, a panel opened up and inside was gadgets.

"I had this secretly installed for situation's like this," he reached in and pulled out an electronic tablet, he clicked a few buttons and it came to life, "Take this, this hear is connected to the Asylum map, if you come across any hidden trophies or things of importance you can use this to scan it and it'll upload it to the map. I can access it through the cryptographic sequencer," he took out the gadget and in it's side clicked in a small chip.

**A gadget upgrade, nice.**

"How do you feel? Has Poison Ivy's plants effects worn off?" he asked.

Filly nodded as she took the gadget from Batman, "I'm fine Batman, the toxins from Ivy, Scarecrow and Joker have little to no effect on me."

"I shall head to the Medical Building first to check the Doctors, I know most of where Riddler's puzzles and trophies are. I want you to head into Intensive Treatment and find some, can you do that?"

"Yes sir." Batman ran off and Filly climbed her way up the look out point. She steadied herself on the railings, counted to three then jumped easily to the other side, again her landing was less than graceful.

Back home she would always find Riddler's things before completing the final level, it didn't feel right going on without defeating him. Smiling to herself she was over the moon that she managed to convince the Dark Knight to hunt for the trophies and solve the riddles. But now things didn't add up, Riddler may or may not had left little trophies or riddles for her to collect but there would be a memory in his cell that she was just itching to get at.

Jeremiah's secrets would have to wait.


	14. Tricks and Experiments

The chattering teeth had bounced under a table and got itself caught itself under papers and kept banging off the table leg. Reaching in she pulled it out and clamped it in her hands, Filly took hold of each side and with all her strength tried to pull them apart, it took a few seconds but it crushed to pieces in her hands. Taking a photo of it a message soon popped up saying that all the chattering teeth in the area had been destroyed. It was hard getting to some of the trophies since you needed certain gadgets to get to them but she took the photo anyway Batman would figure it all out easily.

Being the only one in Intensive Treatment made her feel strangely claustrophobic, she wished that a goon who pop up or someone to come round the corner but no. The only sounds were of alarms and mechanic devices malfunctioning, she had reached Riddler's cell and proceeded to scan it into the device, she was sure that Batman would of already solved this but just to be on the safe side. Setting the gadget down she went on a quick search in his cell for something and soon came cross a small green bouncy ball with a darker question going around it. Repeating the memory process her eyes closed, accessed the memory and watched.

Edward never let himself get bored in the asylum, he'd create new riddles and plans to trap the Batman, he would occasionally make little tunes in his head which held little secrets and sometimes he'd make the first letters of the verses and choruses spell out words. But today hadn't been his best; he was allowed back in the lunch hall to have meals with the rest of the patients but one of the lunatics had grabbed a plastic fork and stuck it into a guards throat. In an asylum filled with scares you'd have to make a weapon out of the most simplest things. He was sighing and grunting in annoyance while bouncing a ball off the wall opposite from him, it would hit the floor, bounce against the wall then the Riddler would catch it effortlessly in his hand.

"Wait here, I shall be back in a moment."

The Riddler turned his head to the sound of the command and his eyes widened at the sight of a little girl. He had never seen a child in the asylum before, she was holding a toy horse by it's two front legs and kept her other hand behind her back. The Riddler watched the nervous child stare as their Doctor entered a room and left her alone, the girls eyes looked around the cell block carefully then she met Edwards gaze. She quickly turned away from him and kept her head staring at the floor.

 _What a shy creature_ he thought.

Edward tapped on the metal bars hard making sure that it gave off a loud enough sound to attract only her attention. She glanced his way again then turned her full body towards him but she didn't move any further,"What's your name darling? I'm Edward" he said with a charming grin.

"My name is Emily." she replied shyly her cheeks turning red.

"Do you like games?"he asked sliding down the bars to be at her level.

Little Filly's eyes lit up, "Yes" she replied and took two little steps towards him.

"How about we play a game of Cops and Robbers?"

She pulled a confused face before answering, "I've never heard of that before. How do you play it?"

"It's easy, I play the robber and you are the cop. I run away and hide and you have to come and find me."

"Hold on" little Filly frowned, "Is that not hide and seek but called different?"

Edward held back a bad-mannered comment and chose to reply politely, "Yes but this is a special version. You see you have to let me out of my cell first so I can go and hide. Then once you find me you have to bring me back here and lock me up tight."

Her face beamed, "That does sound like a lot of fun!"

"Good, now do you know how to let me out?" he asked urgently, there was a wicked glint in his eye pleased that his lies had tricked the girl.

Filly nodded and told him that the buttons for each cell were in the room above this particular block. Filly watched as her younger self shot off like a bullet, she was up in the room in no time. Looking left and right to make sure that no one could she her then pressed the correct button and the bars to Edwards cell opened. He took a step out and breathed, using his bouncy ball he flung it up at a camera which was strong enough to break it and like before he caught it with ease.

Little Filly returned to him ready to start the 'game'. Riddler looked down the long corridors that connected everywhere, he remembered the route in his head to get to the rooms that contained his clothes and gear. "Now my dear Emily you stay here and count to fifty then you come and find me." Edward then ran off and left Filly counting quietly to herself.

He had memorized the asylum maps a long time ago he would often go over them again and again and think about all the different places he could hide his puzzles. It didn't take him long to find the room, every time he came across a camera he dealt with it and to his luck he came across no guards. Once back in his green suit and cane in his hand he brushed himself off ready to leave the asylum, he knew the perfect escape route he had come across when going over maps. He turned around but stopped suddenly when he saw Emily standing in front of him smiling away so pleased that she found him. The look on his face made Filly laugh, he was shocked and impressed all at once, he tried to remain calm in front of her but Edward was always one for his angry outbursts.

"Found you!" she cried happily.

"Shush!" he said bending down and wrapping his hand around her mouth, then he quickly took it off so not to alarm her, "Um, well done but uh, something has happened and I need your help!"

"What's wrong?" she asked her voice full of concern.

"I'm not a robber any more I'm a good guy but they locked me up in here and-"

"Why would they do that?!"she interrupted her face completely in shock.

"Because they think I committed a crime but I know the real person who did it so I need to escape to get the real crook! Do you think you could help me get out?" he slyly said.

"Yes, and if I get you out of here will you be my friend?"

"Yes, yes yes now let's hurry before they catch us." he urged. Young Filly grabbed hold of his free hand and dragged him through the asylum in so many different directions he didn't have a clue where he was half the time which frustrated him. Then all of a sudden they stopped, Edward looked around frankly and was about to roar when he realized they were no where near the escape route he was looking for. He turned to Filly ready to shout at her.

"Hey, you are standing on the trapdoor!" she said excitedly. Riddler looked at the floor, the handle was hidden well but he make it out, "If you climb down it takes you to row boat, it had two big paddles in it. I was going to row the boat to Gotham but my arms are too small."

Edward grinned, "Fantastic child! Well done," he lifted open the trapdoor, went down the ladder a few steps then looked up at Filly to say goodbye, "Goodbye Filly, you have been of great help."

He was about to climb down the rest of the long ladder but she stopped him, "Wait!" Edward gave a sigh of annoyance but waited to hear what she wanted t say, "Can, can you take me Gotham? I've never been there before, Daddy Arkham won't let me go. Please, I promise I won't be any trouble."

The was about to say no but thought about it for a few minutes. The girl had got him this far and he wondered what other things he could use her for. He'd need a thief to get him certain things and the idea of a little sidekick was somewhat amusing. However, if she turned out to be useless he would leave her in the streets and let her become someone else's problem.

"Fine, come along girl." She grinned and climbed down after him, they didn't get very far as Filly screamed out when from above an arm shot out, grabbed hold of Filly and pulled her out. Smoke pellets were let off and sent down, they fill the area quickly and Edward couldn't see anything, he heard noises then felt hands on his shoulders pulling up back into the asylum.

The scene cut to black but Filly was now back watching Edward once again bouncing his ball, he had a black eye and his left hand was bandaged up. He looked awful, eyes full of defeat he kept throwing the ball but he never caught it, he let it roll back to him then he do the same thing over and over agian. This time when he threw it his ball rolled out from the bars, Edward cursed but then it hit off his shoe. Filly stood outside his cell again with a face of sour. It was as if she had appeared out of thin air, he gave her an unkind smirk before saying a word, "Well done kid, you won the game."

"You lied to me. I got into a lot of trouble because I let you out. Daddy Arkham wasn't happy with me and said not nice things and I got scared."

Riddler raised an eyebrow. Daddy Arkham? He thought it was rather strange for a patient, even a child one, to call a Doctor daddy. "Do you mean Jeremiah Arkham? Why do you call him that?"

Young Filly ignored his question, "I want you to say you are sorry."

"HA!" he said, "Apologize to a child?! No, you got us caught, if you had never asked to come along I would be in Gotham already. And just look at what they did to me," he showed her his hand and turned his head fully towards Emily so she could see his eye, "My good looks won't last forever if they keep battering like me this." He finished with a laugh. Riddler wondered how once again she managed to slip away and talk to him without being caught. But it was her to talk.

"You're not my friend any more."

Those words cut Edward like an ice cold knife, another piece of him shattered and Filly could see it in his eyes. Her younger self quickly ran off but she watched Riddler has he slid down his wall and hide his head in his hands. He remembered to earlier when he said yes to them being friends, he sadly laughed. The more he thought about his past the more he realized that he had always been alone, no friends, his family and father cast him away at the first chance they got...yes, Edward realized that he really needed a friend, but he had lost her just like everything else.

Filly sat down on the Riddler's bed and wiped away a tear and waited until the scene faded away and she returned back to present time. Time must have been ticking away Batman was surely done in the Medical building by now and he'd be moving on to the next place but she wasn't sure if he'd head to the mansion or the botanical gardens first. She decided to have one last snoop around Riddler's cell. The cabinets were full of paper work, there were no other belongings to him in there. Filly pulled on the last drawer just a little too quickly and the full metal box came out. Papers, papers and more papers, she lifted up the box to try and squeeze it back in but something inside the structure caught her eye.

****Is that another drawer?** **

Of course Riddler would have a hidden compartment. She brought out the box, opened it up and stared at it's contents. No surprise, inside were more papers with different shades and sizes of green question marks but underneath them all at the bottom was a tape recorder. On it was a sticky note wrapped around it, the name on it was _Jeremiah Arkham_ and beside it in very small letter's said ' _Emily Rogers, before testing.'_

She hadn't really looked into the history of Jeremiah Arkham, all she really knew that he was related to Amadeus Arkham, he was a tad sadistic, delusional and that he became a super villain and took on the name Black Mask since Roman Sionis was killed by Catwoman. In the Poison Ivy memory she remembered the Doctor's words: _"Don't worry about the daughter of Arkham, Pamela...I'll kill her first."_ A part of her didn't want to believe that someone would want to harm her but a memory can't lie. Breathing in and out, she steadied her shaking hand and pressed play.

"Patient interview number one, today is my first interview with Emily Rogers, she has been placed into my care due to the disappearance of Doctor Howard." There was a sound of a door opening and the scratching of a chair moving along a marble like floor.

"Good evening Miss Rogers. How are you tonight?" There was nothing but silence, "Come now Emily it's rude not to answer a question."

"I'm tired...where is Doctor Howard?"

"He won't be your doctor any more, so you are now in my care. I'm Doctor Jeremiah Arkham." he introduced himself.

"Are you related to Amadeus Arkham?" asked young Filly.

"Yes I am. I'm sure you've been told stories about him, I bet they sometimes keep you up at night hmm?"

"He was a bit scary."

Jeremiah chuckled, "Indeed," there was a shuffle of papers being turned then he continued, "So your seventh birthday is in a few day's time and I thought we'd do something special, would you like that?" little Filly didn't reply, she must have nodded as the Doctor sounded childishly annoyed when he continued, "Please answer with words and not actions Miss Rogers."

"I'm sorry, yes I guess I would like that."

"Good. A birthday morning? A full English breakfast and a milkshake of your choice?" he said with a hint of a smile in his words. Filly raised an eyebrow, Arkham sounded like he was trying too hard to get little Filly to like him, his mood changes were confusing to keep up with. Then it only just hit her that the memory she had unlocked in Calendar Man's cell had been on her birthday.

"Thank you. Um, for my birthday can I go into Gotham? I've never been there before and I'd like to visit shops and all the famous places."

"No," the reply was almost instant like it was a reflex reaction, "Maybe next year. Before you go to bed I have a little question to ask you, answer truthfully."

There was a long silence before he asked the question,"What are you?" It sounded rather dramatic, like a detective asking a victim to tell them who the criminal was.

****Wait what? What a strange question to ask a child.** **

"I'm, I'm a little girl." She sounded scared.

"Come now, we both know that your hiding something" said Jeremiah, Filly didn't like his tone she clenched her teeth together and her free hand was curled in a tight fist as she listened.

"I, I don't understand Mr Arkham" she was bubbling up. She imagined herself sitting on the chair holding her toy horse as tightly as possible.

"I think you do. No matter, I knew that we weren't going to get far tonight. You may leave now, but these interviews will be very frequent from now on so if I were you, next time I'd be a bit more co-operative. Go."

The door clicked signalling that Jeremiah was now alone, the rest of the sounds were static sounding making Filly think the tape was over but when her finger was hovering over the rewind button the Doctor coughed clearing his throat, ready to speak into the recorder. He sounded a lot clearer, the tape recorder she figured must of only been a couple of inches away from his lips.

"On the day the Joker sneaked his venom into the patients meal it is reported that Miss Rogers had taken some of it but had not been affected by it, witnesses also say that she had punched him and the Joker 'flew' across the room. Miss Rogers appears to have forgotten about the incident or pretends to because she doesn't understand the abilities she has."

Filly remembered the Joker telling her about their first encounter but she didn't really believe all that he told her, it made her smile knowing that the agent of chaos told her truth. Arkham continued, "Since the Joker's venom didn't work on her I've decided to poison each of her foods with toxins and chemicals from other criminals."

It was as if Filly had been injected with liquid nitrogen, her entire body froze on the spot but her head was hot and beads of rushing sweat ran down the side of her face. What got to her the most was how coolly he spoke of what he had planned like it was acceptable. She rewound the tape to hear what she had missed while she was stuck in her trance.

"Crane has a series of different concoctions he uses to induce fears on his victims so I shall start the experiments with his work. Afterwards I shall test if Poison Ivy's witchery will work on her. I will record these findings separately from now. I believe that there is a lot more to Miss Rogers than meets the eye, she has a lot of potential that she can't get to...but if I get to it first, I might be able to take it for myself. If I am successful in the next few months with these experiments I will begin to find ways of how to absorb her mental and physical powers. Of course there is a risk that if everything works out as planned, she will die," there was a little pause then a quiet, dark laugh, "Even if she didn't die...she'd be the perfect test dummy for my powers. Tests begin in four days." Then it stopped.

The silence of the room closed around Filly but all she could focus on was the words of Jeremiah Arkham, dark thoughts rushed in and out of her head, images of torture flashed in the front of her mind and other horrid things he might have done to her. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath, instead of exhaling calmly a roar of shock escaped her lips, it lasted only seconds but it felt like hours.

It was then she realized that someone had set her challenges, Filly wasn't sure if it was Riddler's doing but she was meant to find this and that could mean that there were more tapes and clues waiting for her but they would be harder to find than Batman's. Filly had to get those tapes and find out where her dear Daddy Arkham was.


	15. The Fall of the Titan King

Filly had brushed herself down and made herself look presentable as she walked up to the goons standing outside the entrance to the Visitor Centre. Two stood looking around while another flipped through the papers secured on a clipboard, they noticed her coming and they suddenly stood to attention but the goon with the clipboard only raised an eyebrow at her and once she was closer he asked for her name.

"Sorry but ah, I don't see your name on the list darlin'."

"Well check again, darlin'" she mocked, "Try Filly."

He flipped over all the guest pages but he shook his head. Filly grabbed it from him and looked down the sheet, to her disappointment he was right, her name wasn't on the guest list. She flipped over to the last sheet that said 'staff' and sure enough her name was there. He stepped out of her way to her pass, he made a crude comment to her which she chose to ignore. Inside the goons stood in their rows, when the door opened slightly they had begun clapping but instantly stopped when they realized that it was just her, a couple booed and a few wolf whistled, these criminals were really pushing her patience now.

One reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder as if he was trying to slide down her blouse. She turned on her heel and slapped his across his face, he stepped back wide eyes amazed at her strength. She was pretty surprised that she managed to get him good but there was a slight buzzing feeling in her hand and it was hard not to show just how much it has also hurt her, "Hands off my shirt gubs."

The Joker wasn't sitting in his chair behind the glass which left an eerie silence and a throat choking atmosphere of what what was soon to come. Filly made her way into the back of the visiting centre; it was dark and clouded with dust but bright flashed on and blinded out the small floating debris, when her eyes were fully adjusted to the light she spotted the Joker sitting on his throne polishing Scarface.

"Your goons are surprisingly artistically talented. I take it you make it a requirement when you post an AD in the papers when your hiring." she smiled approaching him slowly.

The Joker didn't look at her straight away but he giggled an adjusted Scarface on his throne so he stayed still on the arm of the throne. Filly got a proper look at the throne, from a distance it looked as if naked dead corpses had been piled on top of one and other and cemented together but she knew that they were decapitated mannequins. At the top large metal spikes came out of a platform, heavy chains hung down some had plastic doll heads of them and barbed wire went along the spikes. In a white it was a much more horrific version of the throne from the Killing Joke.

She didn't wait for his reply on her comment "Where is Jeremiah Arkham?",getting straight to her business.

His toxic green eyes sparked and danced at the mention of the doctor, he chuckled then relaxed in his throne, "He was a very naughty boy who bit off a bit more than he could chew."

"No one hurts my favourite girl." Thank God Harley isn't here to hear you say that.

"Would you like to see what happened?" He threw over his dead orange flower and she caught it easily in her hand but instead of looking at the memory she tucked it into her pocket to save for later.

"How long have you known about my powers? Why the Hell am I only discovering them right now?" she snapped, "And this Glitch person, who is that?" she suddenly remembered.

He giggled, "Questions, questions, questions heh heh he, all in good time my dear, I wouldn't want to spoil things for you right now. I put enough clues around the asylum to feed your appetite"

"Why have you been doing this for me?"

"A long time ago I was given these secrets, and I was told that when the time came I would use them to help a dear friend along." it sounded like a cliché from a bad thriller movie but he hadn't lied to her yet.

"Help! Girl please!" Filly's head snapped up and saw the Gordon strapped into a chair hanging above them, it looked as if the cord holding him up would break any minute now. Filly's eyes darted back and forth from the Commissioner to the Joker, desperately trying to figure out if there was anyway to get him down but her thoughts ceased when Joker pointed the TITAN gun right at her.

"Now now Filly, only big adults get to play with the Commissssiioner here."

Better just stick to the game Filly, don't try to change anything.

"Oh look!" the clown prince of crime happily screamed, "My two volunteers have arrived!", two Arkham guards were thrown over the edge, they landed painfully on the ground right by the Joker's shoes, they only groaned and kept their scared faces down. "Hmm I have a wonderful idea! Filly!" He grabbed her roughly by the arm and spun her around so that her back was against his front, he put the TITAN gun in her hand then held it up so that she pointed it at one of the guards. A tiny bead of sweat ran down the side of her face, "It's eaasssyyyy, just pull the trigger, one...two...three!"

Nothing happened, she couldn't let go her eyes where transfixed on the poor guards in front of her who kept glancing up at with fearful pleading eyes. Even though she knew that the TITAN chemical wouldn't kill them the thought of watching the unfortunate souls transform into hideous creatures made the pit of her stomach turn. She had tuned herself from the Joker's voice behind her, Filly's only thoughts were excuses on how to get herself out of this situation.

"I...I can't Joker..."

"Typical!" he playfully threw her aside, "Can't rely on anyone these days, you have to do everything yourself!"

"Boss!" a goon came running in towards them, "The Batman is right outside." The Joker gave his giggle and clapped his hands together, he turned to leave but stopped in his tracks for a moment before quickly firing the TITAN gun at the terrified guards. All the goons ran in with a panic carrying the huge collars, they waited for the exact moment to clip them on which took a few attempts as the growing TITAN guards would swing their huge arms and hit a couple. Once secured the chains were pulled in dragging the TITAN guards backwards into makeshift open cells. "Thanks for the help" a goon commented pushing past her.

Suddenly, there was an explosion and the Joker came bounding out giggling as he ran, he got back on to his throne and waited for the Batman to come through, he glanced at Filly and scratched his chin thinking what he was going to do with her.

"Sorry kiddo can't let you in on this fight!" Two goons grabbed both of her arms and pulled her back, she didn't try to resist as she saw no point. Lead up a set of stairs to the next level of the room, she was forcefully pushed into a seat and told to be quiet as soon as the Batman walked in.

Below the Dark Knight walked in, she felt all of his frustration as he marched in, dealing with the stupid thugs quickly and with ease, it made her smile with triumph.

"Why didn't you stop Batman!?" said the Joker playing with his new toy.

"Meeeeee?! It was your plan you goofy clown!" the puppet replied.

"AH! I'm sending you back to the Ventriloquist where you belong." he threw the wooden puppet at the Dark Knights feet then slouched into his throne, folded his arms like a grumpy child and began his small speech.

"You had to spoil everything didn't you. Beating up Bane, feeding Scarecrow to Croc, getting in the way of Filly's finding game, slapping around Harley, my hobby by the way! And ruining all my lovely venom plants." He stood up from his throne when he spoke to Batman, his glare down wasn't threatening but rather challenging.

"It's over Joker."

"Over?" he leaned over and sneered down with his hand hovering over the lever to release his monsters, "Why my dear delusional Dark Knight, it hasn't even begun." The lever had been pulled, the clanks of the collars hitting the floor acted as the bell for the next round in the Joker's night of fun.

The Joker clapped at the Dark Knight's victory. "Nicely done Bats. You deserve a prize, but you can only choose one! Your old pal Commissioner Gordon or the Daughter of Arkham!" Gordon grunted as he was dropped into the scene and a spotlight flashed on him. Filly was dangled over the banister by the pair of thugs, she shook as much as possible to be free from them then she too was hit with a spotlight. "But saayyy, the comish looks all run down lets pep him up."

The shot was fired. For a moment it looked as if Batman was going to choose Filly over Commissioner Gordon but in the last seconds he threw himself in front of Gordon and the TITAN dart hit him.

"No!"

"Batman!"

Filly was dropped to the floor but landed on her feet, she ran to his side but Batman held up his hand at her to stop her coming any closer, "Get away" He punched his fist into the ground and cracked it, his teeth clenched as his arm kept bulging due to the venom.

"Here we go! We're going to have some fun now kiddies!" Batman looked up at his enemy, his teeth shut so tight and eyes burning with strength, "You're trying to resist the change! That's not fair!" the Joker kicked him and the Dark Knight fell over rather easily it made Filly worry, "Come on, GIVE IN!"

"So, you wanna play hard ball Bats, do yah?" he pulled out a feather from inside his suit, "Your call. Tickle tickle." He waved it and brushed it on Batman's face but the Dark Knight smacked him away.

He's not taking any of your shit Joker!

"You're ruining my big night! Months of planning down the crapper! I just wanted to bring down your grim facade and for once let you see the world as I see it...giggling in a corner and bleeding. But you've denied me even that, I have nothing to live for." He pushed the TITAN gun into his neck and fired. The Joker made a sound which sounded like a cough stuck in your throat, he fell over on to his back and for several seconds there was no sound or movement. Filly looked up and saw the Joker's goons return, they all stared at one and other wondering what the Hell was going to happen now.

"Batman, are you OK?" she approached him and tried to get him back on his feet but each attempt he cried and fell back on to his knees. Filly glanced at the Joker who hadn't started transforming yet, she just wanted to get him on his legs before the Joker turned into a TITAN monster. "Batman please, please get up before-"

There was a high sounding gasp and Filly turned her attention to where Joker lay, Batman followed her gaze and Gordon was still swinging. There was a splutter of coughs coming from the clown and they quickly turned into giggles as he sat up. The Joker's eyes glowed green and his smile seemed to get higher and higher, he jumped on to his feet and gave an enormous cackle followed by the sound of clothing material been stretched and torn.

The pace his body changed and morphed was dramatic, in seconds he was build bigger than Batman and he kept going. His bones crunching together, flesh ripping and muscles bulging, he threw his head back and cackled once more, he tried dancing about but it looked as if he was just stomping around to a jolly tune. He waved his huge arms about and nearly caught the Filly and Batman a few times, Gordon was pulled up by the goons and was wheeled off on a trolley.

Batman, now on his feet pushed Filly behind him but the Joker advanced on both of them, with the swoop of his hand the Joker's witch like talons picked up the Dark Knight and held on to him tightly. There was the sound of a little explosion above them, there was now a hole in the ceiling leading out to the outside world.

"Emily...run!" the Dark Knight managed to shout out. She obeyed the command and rushed for the exit but TITAN Joker jumped in front of her and she skidded to a halt.

"Ohhhhh no no no no, why should we keep all the fun to ourselves?!" the TITAN Joker pushed her back with enough force to make land on her back. The wind was completely knocked out of her for a few seconds but she was picked up and flung over someone's shoulder. Great, back in the damn goons hands again.

Within moments she was outside, the cold air was a welcomed comfort as the dust and debris from inside had strangled her. But thoughts of comfort were short lived when she saw the Commissioner hooked up to his torture machine, he looked defeated and weak and then the hero and the enemy arrived.

The Joker took heavy sick like breaths as he climbed into the ring with the Batman in his hand, "SHOW TIME BATMAN! Let's give the rubes something to talk about!" Batman was flung into the ring his arm still wrapped around the other that was badly affected by the TITAN.

"Two freaks in the fight to the death!" Jumping down happily he kicked the Dark Knight a few times before talking again.

"And for one night only, please welcome our special guess referee...and three cheers to my great supporter!" The goons made her arms flap about as if she was cheering the Joker, at one point she swore they put a foam football hand on her but it kept slipping off.

"So...come on! Change! Get crazy! It's the only way to beat me! You know you want to..."

The TITAN was clearly tearing the Batman inside, his eyes gave hints of a green glow if he didn't inject himself with the cure he'd transform. "Never." Batman said through clenched teeth, he pierced himself hard enough that it would break through his outfit.

Thank God the TITAN cure is fast working.

"You wasted the antidote on yourself! Now that's funny!" Batman was thrown across the ring again as if he were no lighter than a feather.

"Hysterical! But you still spoiled my fun. And for that, I'll paint Arkham red with your blood. Lets get ready to tango!" TITAN Joker swung his arms out missing the Dark Knight three times but on the forth Batman got hit and he lay flat on his back for a few seconds, the Joker satisfied jumped off of the ring and started to talk to the camera's flying above them. That's one thing about the Joker that she didn't like, sure he was smart, evil and terrifying but God did he like to talk a lot.

Thug after thug attacked the Dark Knight, some had knifes and others only had their fists, they were dealt with easily and when they were all finished the Batclaw was fired into Joker's back.

"Get off me! AH! When I get out of this I'm going to rip your freaking head off!" Once pulled down into the ring the Joker was stuck in the wooden floor giving Batman the chance to give him a few punches, it was quick as the Joker was back on his feet and repeated what he did before.

The more thugs stepped down into the ring the less she had keeping her back, the Dark Knight looked like he was in control but the Commissioner was on last legs and badly needed help. The last of the thugs from her side jumped down, Idiots, Filly regained her strength and made her way over to the Commissioner. Balancing along the fighting ring making sure she didn't attract a thug or the Joker from the helicopter she made it to Gordon's side. The chair had him strapped in tightly and the bursts of electricity were random and would strike seconds or minutes after. Swallowing her panic she got the straps on his legs off, he screamed at each zap not realizing that she was there trying to save him, Filly moved in front of him carefully avoid little sparks the buckle holding him in on the front was a struggle. Gordon had trouble opening his eyes but he caught glimpses of her fiddling about with the locks and bolts, if he had the strength to thank her later he would.

"You'll be OK commissioner I promise just hold-"

But suddenly she wasn't at Gordon's side any more, she had been grabbed by the Joker and thrown into the air then caught like a bouncing ball. Screaming at the top of her lungs the Joker laughed as he threw her again into the air as if he was aiming for the helicopter. Filly's screams of terror stopped as she tried to focus on not being sick. Slowing down the world was difficult as she was being thrown but she could see the Batman punching down the last thug and getting his Batclaw ready for the final take down of the Joker.

The batclaw hooked itself on to the Joker's back and the Dark Knight pulled. Joker stepped back and tired to keep himself up but dropped her. She banged off the edge of the TITAN clowns platform and crashed into the fighting ring, the snapped planks of wood dug into side then her blouse felt wet. Her eyes turned to the left side of her lower stomach, her blouse was soaked with her own blood. At first there was no pain until it finally registered she was badly hurt, from above the Joker had lost his balance and he began to fall. Taping into her power immediately the world slowed down and gave her enough time to limp crawl her way out from the space where the Joker who fall.

The sounds of the Joker being electrocuted couldn't of sounded more relieving. Gasping and spluttering the Joker climbed out and tried not too look as though he had been wounded. "I can take it. I can take whatever you throw at me Bats. You can't beat me. I'm actually going to win! Ready for the next round?!" the TITAN clowns eyes filled with joy at the idea of finally beating his enemy.

From the side she saw Batman spray his explosive gel on his knuckles,"Always."

The look in his eyes suddenly vanished, "WHAT?!"

"I'll never let you win. Never!"

For enjoyment she slowed down the scene the exact same way the game would and imaged the Gothic choir singing. The Joker's last cry made her heart cheer as he finally fell. Filly's wound had began healing but she clutched it while walking slowly towards Batman side. She couldn't believe it, she had made it through the entire night and she wasn't dead, the game had gone without a glitch.

"It's over," she dropped to her knees in exhaustion then looked up at Batman who was still standing.


	16. Victory With a Pinch of Salt

The radios where back in the asylums control, survivors were called, the ones that were still in Arkham East and North were told to stay put as no one knew if it was entirely safe to walk to different areas of the asylum. However while police cars, boats and helicopters were called to head over to the asylum Cash had brought over some people and the Doctors from inside the Medical building had also joined.

Each colleague of the asylum embraced one and other with tight hugs, and silent sobbing. Cash nodded at Batman and congratulated him on defeating the Joker then turned to Filly and without warning pulled her into a suffocating hug. "Need to breathe Cash." She heard him chuckle and he released her from his tight grip.

From the corner of his eye she noticed a tear ready to leap and roll down his cheek but Filly pretended not to notice, "I'm glad you're alive sweetpea."

She smiled at him and was about to return the hug but Gordon had finished with his call and turned towards Filly and pointed his finger straight at her, "You" he quietly spoke,"I want a word with you."

Batman put his hand on the commissioners shoulder trying to keep him back but Gordon shook it off and approached her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stared up at him, he could be intimidating when he wanted to but his body language relaxed then he gave a little quiet, tired sigh.

"Thank you," he held out his hand for her to shake, she took it then Gordon added, "But this doesn't mean I trust you completely."

"Understood sir." And she did. There had been many points during the night where it seemed that she was with the Joker and not the Batman, it must had really confused him but her attempt to rescue him gave him his answer even if he wasn't entirely convinced.

The ambulance crew were the first to arrive, they quickly saw to the other Doctors who were still in shock. Filly's wound had took longer to heal that expected but the bleeding had stopped though she forgot that her blouse was completely soaked, the medics rushed to her side and removed the shirt, she tried her hardest not to burst out laughing when she saw their faces. They gave her a blanket to wrap around herself with but her cheeks were blooming red at the cold wind beating against her, she quickly checked out the small guard huts and found a navy shirt and a strong Arkham waistcoat. The shirt wasn't a perfect fit but it would do and the waistcoat was a lot heavier than she expected; returning to the group the doors to the visiting centre started to creak, Cash and a few other fit guards ran over, guns pointing at the doors ordering all those inside to walk out slowly hands in front of them. The Jokers goons obeyed the orders knowing that the battle had been won, they were lined in three rows and waited until reinforcement police vans turned up.

Soon enough dozens of riot vans and police cars turned up along with a few more medical crews, Gordon order his men to scout this section of the island first and to try and figure out how many casualties there had been, so huge groups of police and doctors split up and headed into the Visiting Centre, the Medical Building and the Penitentiary, and the goons from before where taken and placed in the secure police vans.

Aaron Cash stood with the survivors, numbers of tonight's body count kept climbing one after one stretchers came out from all the asylum buildings with sheets covering the dead. Filly's smile was gone and replaced with a sort of defeated expression. The Joker had been stopped, the inmates back in their cells and the blackgate prisoners on their way to another secured location, it would have been such a grand victory but the deaths of good people weighed everything down.

"Don't beat yourself up," Aaron stood beside her and hugged her shoulder, "You and Batman saved us."

She looked up at him and recognised the same feelings she had, he hid it much better than her. Aaron watched with her as the final body came out of the Medical building, he sniffed keeping his barriers up. "It's not your fault Cash."

He didn't reply to her comment, he rubbed the sweat from his head and looked at her as if he was about to confess to a horrid crime.

"I saw something Filly, it freaked me...nothing freaks me out but..." she let him take his time. "It was Sharp, he was muttering to himself but I couldn't make out what he was saying, I mean I've caught him muttering before but I didn't think anything of it. Then he took a knife, I dunno where he took it out from but he cut his fingers and started drawing on the floor with his blood." She placed her hand on his shoulder, "He kept whispering things to himself, mostly saying 'I am the spirit of Amadeus Arkham' and 'Batman'."

That was one of the creepiest challenges of the game for her personally, but she had no clue the Cash had seen what he had done,"Cash keep this conversation between you and me, we can't let Warden Sharp's little incident break out. We gotta show everyone that we're still strong, we're not all broken."

He gave a small nod. From the corner of her eye she spied the Dark Knight watching them, of course he'd already know what the warden had done.

"Right, we better get these officers ready to spread to the other buildings." He said tiredly.

"No Cash, I'm needed here, you need rest. These officers won't have a clue how these systems work , I'll keep them right." He looked as if he was about to argue but again he only nodded, realizing just how exhausted he was.

"I forget I'm not as young as I used to be" he chuckled to himself. Officers began to make their way back waiting for the next orders but the Commissioner was back on the phone frantically making calls to other places and the Batman was nowhere insight. Filly addressed the officers and called for there attention but they took one look at her but then continued their own conversations, some even laughed at her. And this didn't please Cash.

"Show her some respect! The Batman and her saved lives tonight she is not a child." At that the chatting ceased and now they all turned to her.

"So what are you called then?" one from the front said rudely.

Gritting her teeth together Filly stared hard at the officers in front of her. She had gone through so much trouble and pain, saved and helped out whenever she could and this was how she was treated afterwards. She got into the officers face, his cocky grin falling down surprised by how quick she was, "My name is Emily Rogers-" she said to him but loud enough for other's to hear.

Then she backed off and shouted, "-and I am the Daughter of Arkham Asylum so you all better god damn listen to me. In some places of the asylum there shall still be prisoners of Blackgate and patients who'll be unconscious but there will be a chance that a few are up and about. The prisoners will not likely have guns and will likely submit to arrest quickly. However, as for the released patients they are mentally unhinged and will charge at you so do not approach. We have tranquillizer snipers and these will take them down separately."

Arkham guards who were fit enough to stay and help get the Island back under control were given the tranquillizer sniper's and they lead large groups into all the different parts of the asylum, it was slow at first but they pushed through, Filly left one of the groups to search for Batman. She knew he'd be fine but something poked the back of her head, her instinct's told her the mansion so he bounded over there first before any officers.

The damage to the Mansion was astonishing, she was surprised that the full place hadn't caved in or burned, but the mansion was one of those buildings you know who survive an apocalypse. Walking over the dead and passing the unconscious made her skin crawl, no matter how many times she saw a deceased guard her eyes would never get used to all the images, it was different on a TV screen but in front of her...it was haunting.

Filly ran her hand over the large fallen bell, opened a memory to see if it had recorded the last time Batman had come through but she found nothing but her hunch wouldn't go. Heading to the Wardens office there was a burning and ash like smell, she cautiously turned the corner but was taken aback when she came across a hole in the wall.

The wood work had been blown to pieces revealing a mini corridor leading into a secret room. There was small dust clouds floating gently to the ground showing that it had only been like this for a few minutes. Walking through, the room looked like a regular office in the mansion, Batman was staring at a notice board, she smiled at her hunch. She took in more of the office, it did look ordinary but why was it blocked off? This was the first time she had ever came across this room, all of her friends who had played the game hadn't told her about it unless they didn't know it existed either.

"What is this?" she asked approaching his side. The map was large and along the top were photographs of buildings.

"This is a map of Gotham City and Arkham Island, a whole section has been highlighted" he stated as his eyes glanced over the building's that had been noted down.

"Well whatever Warden Sharp has planned, its been approved." she said noticing the word in bright red letters stamped on the map and various papers scattered on the desk. "I'll do some digging round when things have calmed down here and I'll get the information to you somehow." But no doubt he and Barbara will be on the case and strike lucky before her.

Sitting on the desk was an big, old computer, Filly had no clue what was showing on the screen but many official looking papers had the Wardens signature at the bottom. She picked up a pile of photos and shuffled through them, more and more buildings, one had a strip club sign, another she guessed was a courthouse and the last of the pile was a theatre, it was obvious which one it was.

"We'll have to make sure this is hidden. We'll move a bookcase in front of it, no doctors, officers or guards can know about this." he stated. Filly figured he was hinting hard on her to not tell Cash about it. Filly left the room to give Batman the space he needed to scan in the room, she chose a bookcase but struggled to move it but suddenly the batclaw grabbed hold of it and the Dark Knight began to pull. Filly tried catching the books as they fell, when the bookcase was in place she sat them back on but she was concerned that others would notice it had been moved.

"Who gave you the title Daughter of Arkham?" he asked taking her mind off it.

"I, I dunno. Plus Filly doesn't exactly strike fear into the hearts of criminals but Daughter of Arkham does the trick." she laughed, "But it's only a nickname."

He nodded, "I was impressed by how you handled the officers, you would make a good leader in these sort of situations. I can see why Cash is fond of you."

"Really?" she was surprised that he had seen her little speech, "I didn't expect them to listen to me the first time, after all I'm just a teenager. Although I feel that I've had to grow up pretty fast tonight."

They both headed back to the entrance of the Mansion, guards and officers began to enter the building now to gather the inmates and help gather the dead.

"So what happens now?" she asked him.

"Get this place under control, try and make it safe again." he said simply.

Filly bit her lip and glanced at him from the corner of her eye, "It's not going to be easy."

They were back in Arkham West, lines of police vans and cars filled with Blackgate prisoners left she was unsure where they'd be locked up now although some were sure to go to the hospital as well. Gordon was back on his phone, she couldn't hear the last part of his conversation with Barbara but he ended it with a smile knowing that he'd be able to see his daughter again.

"Shame about your car. Can I give you a ride?" there was a smirk playing on Gordon's lips, he would love to see this huge armoured hero in a small car.

Batman returned the small smirk,"Thanks Jim, but I have one on the way."

"Get some rest, you deserve it", he turned to Filly, "What about you Miss, is there anywhere you can go?"

"I'll be here making sure nothing else happens. This is my home Commissioner, I don't have anywhere else to go."

Just as Gordon was about to reply to her the radio in the cop car announced that there was trouble back in Gotham. The events tonight gave Harvey the perfect chance to cause a bit of trouble while Batman and most of the best officers on the force where on the island.

"Stay safe Jim. And Filly," he turned to her while she grew red as he finally called her by her nickname, "Be strong." With that the Batwing roared and hovered about them, the Dark Knight used the batclaw to board his air craft then he flew to Gotham City to face another fight, leaving the asylum to heal.

"How do you think he does it? Where does he find the strength to carry on?" asked Gordon more to himself than Filly. She didn't reply as she didn't know either but if she had to guess, it was his love for Gotham that kept him going.


	17. The Final Memory

It had been three days since the terrifying events at Arkham Asylum, the island was still recovering and many had not even begun mourning the dead. Filly had found that she didn't need to rest but sooner or later sleep would creep up on her, and it would take her home. She hoped.

The library of patients had been left untouched, if she hadn't had already known the Joker's goons had done this she would had guessed that a whirlwind had charged through. Cash had came back into the asylum to take the work load off her shoulders and he ordered her to take a break but instead she went to the Arkham Records Room and started to tidy up. It was going to take time. She first had to organize the papers by the dates and from there put everything in alphabetical order, it took her just over a hour and a half to find all the files dated 1910, they were all surprising still in good condition.

Things had turned deathly quiet, she welcomed the silence after all the alarms of the outbreak but now nothing screamed or cried, not even a creak of an old floorboard, she'd do anything for an iPod. Instead she found a copy of a Scarecrow interview tape, she listened to it while she half read and half tied up the records.

"Patient interview 6. Dr Crane has been back in custody for three weeks." he sounded exhausted, no doubt this interview session had kept him all night worrying, "Regular sessions have been inconclusive. I am not sure if he's actually insane.

There was no click of an opening door, it was as if he magically appeared into thin air, "Good evening, Stephen. How are you tonight?" he sounded oddly cheery.

"I'm conducting the session, Jonathan." Doctor Kellerman said sternly.

"Of course. If that helps you cope, I wouldn't have it any other way."

Doctor Kellerman shuffled what sounded like papers then continued, "Let's talk about the events three weeks did you think you'd achieve? Dr Murphy is still in therapy."

"I wanted to understand him." Crane was always one for explaining things with his hands, she imaged him throwing his hands and arms in the air and to the sides as he explained, "His personal demons. His fears. It's all quite fascinating, really."

"But you are...were a respected doctor. A brilliant mind, not just another resident at Arkham." Filly wondered what the two Doctor's relationship was like before Crane became the Scarecrow. Doctor Kellerman sounded so sad and there was not one trace of hope in his voice, the two of them must had been good friends.

"Can I have a drink? A strong one? This kind of question bores me."

"I'm afraid not."

"Interesting choice of words, Doctor. Tell me, what are you afraid of?" he would of had his arms gripping his chair tightly and he would be leaning in towards the Doctors face as he asked this. Then came the click signalling the end of the tape.

Filly had to admit that Doctor Kelllerman was tough, he was in charge of Scarecrow and Poison Ivy and both of them had seriously harmed him but he was still here doing his job. What a badass!

A while or so later she stopped to take a break, her eyes had gone dizzy after all the information she had read off the records. Fiddling in her pocket she took out the flower the Joker had tossed her earlier, she had almost totally forgot about it. Sitting it on the table she slouched in her chair, arms folded and her leg propped up on the other, the Joker's flower stared at her and Filly frowned. In her mind she imaged that the flower had a voice and was calling 'Come on, you know you want to' at her, but in all honesty she was scared of the memory waiting for her. Sighing in defeat she strolled back towards, picked it up then threw it in the air and caught it easily in her hands. She got comfortable and cupped the flower like you would do with water; eyes closed she concentrated, ready to view the memory.

Within moments she found herself in a room that she recognised as the hidden office in the mansion, but it was different somehow. As she walked further in she realized that the room was mostly lit up by computer screens and the noises came from a heart monitor. An uneasy shiver ran from her neck, down her spine, if there was a heart monitor and a bunch of computer's in a secret room, someone was up to no good.

As she turned the corner, her hands went to her mouth to stop herself from shrieking. In front of her she saw her younger self strapped down on a tilted bed, on both of her arms a needle was injected, one coloured blue and the other red. Metal circles were stuck to her temples with tubes coming out from it and as her eyes wandered around she noticed more and more needles connecting with various devices stuck into her, it was as if she was being used as a voodoo doll. Her eyes were transfixed on her younger self she hadn't heard Doctor Jeremiah Arkham enter, he wore a long white lab coat and carried a clipboard and a notebook. He stood for a moment and just stared at young Filly, his eyes looked all over her making sure that she was in the exact same way position and condition that he left her in earlier.

"So are we feeling any better?" he asked knowing full well that he wouldn't get a reply. His chuckle was low and poisoned with evil. Shifting his glasses up his nose he watched his computer screens recording the effects of all the drugs that were being pumped into her. A monitor began beeping signalling that one of the tests had been completed, one needle was pulled from her arm then from a drawer the Doctor pulled out a knife and from his coat pocket a stop watch. Filly watch with scared eyes as Jeremiah Arkham made a deep cut down her arm, her blood didn't gush out like she expected but in slow dribbles, the Doctor pressed his stopwatch and timed how long it took to heal. A mere ten seconds, he smiled at the results and noted them down in his journal.

Sickness from the bottom of her stomach bubbled and steamed causing her to swallow to get the rising foul taste out of her throat, the sight before her made her knees weak as she felt frightened for her younger defenceless self. Who was her saviour here? Jeremiah then turned to another machine with flashing lights and dials, he fiddled about with buttons and the tubes connecting to her temples began to buzz, she couldn't watch as he twisted the dials higher and higher until her body finally reacted. Filly couldn't imagine the pain that coursed through her little self, her hands wanted to reach out and grab Jeremiah by the neck and throttle him to stop all his experiments on her.

Suddenly there was a crash, a trolley holding medical equipment had been tipped over with such force the scalpel's and other medical devices flew to the furthers corners of the room. Doctor Arkham held his knife tightly in his pocket, he was panicked for a moment as his head snapped from the left to the right trying to see what or who had knocked over the trolley.

"Joker? How...who let you out of your cell?" he asked falling into his seat. He began to squirm when the clown prince of crime came out with big open arms.

His grin told a thousand stories, there seemed to be a mutual 'friendship' between them but Arkham wasn't overjoyed by the clown's visit.

"An old friend of our's." the Joker answered, "They told me you were up to no good, couldn't believe you were having fun without me!" his eyes glowed with a snake like viciousness and his voice was low and threatening, "But when I discovered you were playing adult games with little Filly here well...I thought that's just not nice."

Arkham tried to keep calm, he took off his glasses and gave them a wipe, "Miss Rogers is currently going through a new therapy technique. You may call your sessions games but I'm doing this strictly to treat Miss Roger's illness." He did his best not to look Joker in the eye so he kept his face down at his clipboard.

The Joker laughed and grabbed the clipboard. He took off the papers and threw them into the air like confetti. "A little girl agreed to have needles stuck into her and have her skin cut open?"

Joker knew all too well that the Doctor wouldn't call the guards, if they saw Filly strapped up like this, Arkham would become a messy, bloody pile of flesh and bone on the floor.

Jeremiah didn't reply, his eyes locked on to Joker's now and a cruel smile curved his lips, "You caught me. I've been doing terrible things to my sweet patient" He stood from his seat and stroked younger Filly's cheek. "She has so much power. Too much power for a child who doesn't understand it." he turns back to the Joker, "Why shouldn't I take it?" he didn't wait for an answer, "God damn it she's my daughter I can do as I please with her!"

"HA! She's the asylums child, not yours. You told her to call you 'Daddy Arkham'," Filly felt her skin crawl at the mention of those two words, "Well I'm her good old Uncle Joker!"

Joker approached Jeremiah but the doctor moved away from him, his hand hovered over a button on one of his machines."Come closer I will kill her! Just the push of this button and all the toxin will go into her body, she won't able to heal herself."

Suddenly an arm wrapped itself's around Arkham's neck and pulled him away from the button, Filly looked closer and realized it was Frank Boles, God how many years had he been working for Joker.

He was more than terrified now, he begged for his life with his eyes, "Joker please, come on, I'm...I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement? We, we can share her power, just imagine what you could do with it!"

The Joker smirked and leaned into the terrified Doctors face and said, "I am feared by millions, why would I want power that I already have?" He began to roll up his sleeves then turned his head to look at little Filly, "I've been told that I can't kill you."

He looked back at Jeremiah, "If I do I'll be in a lot of trouble. But, I am allowed to, mess you up a bit" For the next fifteen minutes consisted of the Joker beating the crap out of Doctor Arkham, punches to the stomach and the face with the occasional cut from the knife that was used to cut her.

Arkham was out like a light after twenty minutes, Boles swung the unconscious Doctor over his shoulder and sneaked out the hidden entrance to the room as the Joker dusted himself off. He simply pulled the plug to the machines and wires, then carefully took out all the tubes and needles from little Filly but she didn't wake from her sleep. "Did you enjoy that little show?" he giggled while he loosened the straps around her wrists and ankles.

For a moment Filly thought he was talking to her; she was about to speak but a figured stepped out from the shadows and stood before him. They were dressed as if they lived in the slums, jeans smudged by blood and dirt, an over-sized black hoodie and tattered trainers, Filly couldn't get a good look at the person's face. The stranger didn't answer him but the two stared at each other for a few seconds, the Joker occasionally smiling, it was like they were telepathically talking to one and other. Then just like that the figure vanished, they were suddenly just gone and before the memory completely faded she heard the Joker say, " _You of all people should know - there's nothing so CRUEL as a MEMORY."_

She closed her eyes then flashed them open and returned to the record room. Her whole body was still shaking and sweat painted her brow. Filly breathed in and out slowly and counted to ten in her head until she calmed down.

Where was he now? Was he in hiding or somewhere in Gotham still cooking a way to get to her? These were the only thoughts racing through her head, there was no way she'd have all her questions answered especially now as the Joker was still chattering and giggling to himself. The Joker beating up Jeremiah hadn't been very satisfying to watch, she would look forward till the day she's be able to do it herself.

Deciding that food would help calm her nerves she went to the cafeteria, the kitchen was one of the places the goons hadn't managed to destroy. The cafeteria staff hadn't been around when the outbreak happened but they were all called and told not to return to work for at least a week. A quick chicken and sweetcorn sandwich was bliss to her lips, she had forgotten the last time she had ate, it felt like days. She wasn't sure how many memories she could take, what if all the ones left behind for her were just as bad.

Cash found her a few minutes later as she was tucking into her second sandwich, "I thought I told you to get some rest?"

"Stomach called louder" she said with a full mouth.

"Mind if I join you?" he pulled up a chair and made his own sandwich. They chatted in between bites, keeping the subject light and trying not to focus too much of the conversation of the events from three days ago.

"Cash, I think it's time that I, leave the asylum." she put down her sandwich and took a swig of water, "And I'm sorry for just putting this on your back right now but, think I can crash at yours for a little while until I get something figured out?"

Aaron dropped his own sandwich and gave her the widest smile she had ever seen. He picked her up and gave her one of his tight hugs, "I've been waiting to hear that from you for years!"

They agreed that it was better for her to stay at the asylum for a couple more days, her leaving the 'family home' would have to be discussed with the Doctors and Quincy Sharp but he had disappeared. Back in the records room she continued tidying up the place, time seems to fly by in a madhouse as she looked up out a window and the sky was pitch black. When she felt a yawn stirring she decided that she should finally hit her pillow but before she even got out of the mansion two guards approached her, they said that she had been summoned to the Warden's office.

Her eyes widened, "Hugo Strange?"

He took no notice of her at first, he kept writing then cast a glance at her, "Good evening Miss Rogers. Please take a seat", Filly remained standing but was roughly pushed down onto a seat by a guard. "I understand that you want to leave the asylum?"

She raised her eyebrow, word got around fast here, "Um yes, I think it's about time I found my own feet you know, get a job and...things."

The Professor nodded, "Understandable that the young bird wishes to leave the nest. Of course you'd have the full support of the asylum, we'd be happy to provide you a stable money account, it may be spent on whatever you wish but we advise you spend it wisely, not on parties and motorbikes."

Filly was lost for words. This wasn't the Hugo Strange she had read in her comic books. "Um, wow that's very generous but please, if you don't mind me asking, shouldn't I be discussing this with Warden Sharp?"

"Warden Sharp has been took unwell so until he recovers I shall be fulfilling his position."

"Oh, I see. Please don't take any offence with this Professor Strange but it's almost as if you want to get rid of me."

Strange stopped writing and dropped his pencil, he smiled and sat up straight in his chair, "Miss Rogers, exactly how much do you know about me?"

"Enough" it came out like a whisper.

"Well if you know 'enough' about me you'll know that, if I wanted you out of the way, you wouldn't be seating in front of me right now." Filly kept quiet and nodded her head in agreement, "Good. You may leave, go get some sleep. I think we can continue these arrangements later."

"Yes Sir..." she stood, "Goodnight Professor Strange" and awkwardly left the office with the guards right behind her.

Away from the mansion and the scenes of destruction still on the grounds, she was back in her bland room and she had never been happier. She fell back and hit the bed, the soft duvet and pillows seemed to absorb all the worries and stress she had gathered that day. With heavy eyes she shut them tight and thought about her experience of the asylum.

"I was awesome" she laughed to herself. A minute or so later she fell asleep. Her dream into the Arkham world had been a nightmare but now as she looked up into the sky the storm clouds dispersed away and revealed a calm, beautiful night sky. Once the dream had finished she didn't open her eyes straight away, her hands felt the pillows and the covers, they felt exactly the same. Cautiously, she blinked open one eye and sighed with relief.

It was her room. It was Emily's bedroom. There was her Xbox and the Arkham Asylum game case sitting beside the controller. So was it another form of real life or just a fantasy? Emily didn't know but she prayed that she'd never forget it. The time was six in the morning, she had at least an hour to kill before getting ready for school. Plucking on her desk lamp and flipping open her laptop, the screen brightened and showed her desktop. Selecting a word document she titled her story and beneath it the chapter title, then typed in her first sentence:

_"Footsteps, in a panic she silently but quickly dimmed down her bedroom light and plugged earphones into her TV and stood very still..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sequel: No Place for a Hero  
> Chapters will be uploaded for it soon.

**Author's Note:**

> First time posting here, will take me a wee while to get used to the system/taggings/ etc This was first published on fanfiction.net in 2012. Hope you enjoyed it, cheers guys!


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